


Ghosts in the Attic

by FancyFree2813



Series: Layers (originally named The Goofy Mountie Series [18]
Category: due South
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:53:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27210781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancyFree2813/pseuds/FancyFree2813
Summary: Renfield discovers that Great Expectations is in financial trouble and has another one of his brilliant ideas. It will take both Rays and Fraser to help him implement his plan to generate the extra income they need. Ray Kowalski has an unfortunate first meeting with a woman who will eventually become more than just the Lady in the Attic.
Relationships: Ray Kowalski/Other(s), Renfield Turnbull/Kerri
Series: Layers (originally named The Goofy Mountie Series [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954873
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	Ghosts in the Attic

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a love story. It takes a while to get there, but it’s a Ray Kowalski love story. That simple, if you think that loving or being loved by Ray Kowalski could be simple. Ghosts takes place after the events in The Judge Steps Out. Although it is not a sequel to The Judge, Ghosts does make reference to it. This work is #18 in the Layers series.

Renfield awoke with a start, sweat pouring from every pore of his body. Oh, my God, what a dream! The worst nightmare he'd ever had, and he'd been known to have some dusies, especially right after Meghan and Melanie had been killed. But this one topped them all. He'd dreamed that he'd gone undercover and all his friends had thought he was dead! Of all the awful, totally unbelievable things to dream about! But that wasn't all. He'd also dreamed that Kerri had turned to Ray and had actually fallen in love with him! And once he had returned from his undercover assignment Kerri had actually let their close friends and even passing acquaintances vote on who she should choose! 

"Well, that's just preposterous! How anyone could believe that Kerri could love anyone else is beyond me," Renfield muttered to himself as he willed his heart rate to slow. 

Once he had calmed himself, he turned to Kerri. 

One of the things Renfield loved most in life was awakening in the darkness of early morning to Kerri sleeping beside him. He had done so countless times since they had been together. Sometimes he would just lie quietly watching her sleeping, her blonde hair spilling over her pillow, shining in the moonlight and surrounding her face like a halo. He’d watch her chest rising and falling slightly in the slow, rhythmic pace of her breathing. Sometimes he would awaken her with gentle caresses that would eventually lead to slow, tender lovemaking. Sometimes he would just draw her into his arms and fall back to sleep cradling her lovingly against his body. And sometimes he would smile to himself as he listened to her snoring softly. He had never seen her so angry as when he teased her about her snoring. She had insisted that she did not snore and found his insistence that she did totally unamusing.

Tonight was not one of those sometimes, however. The moment he awoke, Renfield knew that something was amiss. He turned over to reach for her only to find she wasn’t there. Not only was she not in bed with him, but the covers on her side had not even been turned down. He knew where she was and was immediately angry. 

"Damn!" he muttered as he jumped out of bed. Taking only time enough to grab his robe, Renfield stomped down the stairs to the first floor. He made his way through the darkness to the back of the bookshop, to the tiny alcove under the back stairs. To the area she laughingly referred to as her office. The space was barely large enough to accommodate her old oak roll-top desk where she kept her computer. The closer he came to the office the more upset he became. By the time he rounded the corner and saw her there he was angrier than he had been in a very long time. 

In the harsh glare of the screen saver, Renfield could see her asleep with her head resting on her arms on the computer keyboard. Far from looking like a halo in the moonlight, her hair took on a sickly green tint in the garish light. Far from the gentle, sweet sounds of gentle even breathing, or even the endearing sounds of snoring, her breathing came in shallow, uncomfortable short snorts.

“Kerri, wake up!” he demanded in a tone so harsh it even startled Dickens, who was asleep at her feet.

Kerri jumped out of her uncomfortable sleep to see the vague outline of Renfield. As her eyes focused, so did her mind. “Renny,” she yawned, “what time is it?”

“It’s almost 4:00!”

Oh, dear. “I must have fallen asleep --"

“Again. You said you’d be right behind me. I told you that you needed your rest --"

“I'm sorry. I just wanted to do a few more things. I didn’t mean--"

“Come to bed. We’ll discuss it in the morning.”

“Renny, I’m sorry.”

“I said we’ll discuss it in the morning. Now come to bed,” he demanded.

“Renfield, I will not be treated like a child! I had work to do and I needed the time to finish it.” She stifled a yawn with the back of her hand.

The last time Renfield and Kerri had had a really major argument they had both been overtired and Kerri was not well. Renfield was determined that this not be a repeat of the other, disastrous incident. 

“Kerri, we are both tired. Please,” he pleaded, “let’s go back to sleep, and talk about all this in the morning.”

They trudged up the stairs, both tired and not just a little angry, and both hoping for a good night’s sleep for their partner.

Kerri climbed into the cold bed as Renfield went into the bathroom. Only a few seconds passed before he emerged, with one more thing to say. “I’m sorry I startled you awake. I just worry so much about your--"

There was no need for him to continue because she would not have heard him. She was already fast asleep. Renfield sighed as he joined her. He pulled her close, until her head was resting comfortably on his chest. He sighed again as he spotted Wolffy, his stuffed toy that was now really more hers, sitting on her nightstand. “You know we’ve got to do something about this?” he muttered softly. ‘But what?’ he thought as he fell asleep.  
___________________________________________

The next morning Kerri stood in the kitchen doorway, silently watching Renfield cook breakfast. He stood facing the stove with his back to her, unaware of her presence. Kerri loved to watch him work in the kitchen, as much as he loved doing it. But this morning was different.

“Good morning,” she whispered.

“Good morning,” he said, without turning to face her.

“What are you fixing?”

“Swedish pancakes.”

One of her favorites. “Is there enough for me?” she asked quietly.

Renfield flipped the crepe and turned it onto a plate where several others were already stacked. He turned the burner off and slowly, very slowly, turned to face her. “Of course there’s enough for you. I’m making them because I know how much you love them.”

“You’re not mad at me any more then?” 

He hung his head and sighed. “No, of course I’m not mad at you any more.” He finally looked at her. “I wanted to tell you last night, but you were already asleep.” He stared at her for a moment before he turned away. “You need to eat. You want syrup or powdered sugar?”

Kerri could only smile. Renfield was always teasing her that she should use maple syrup, it was the patriotic thing to do, after all. But they were Swedish pancakes. “Powdered sugar, please,” she asked as sweetly as she could.

Renfield worked in silence for the next few minutes, occupying his mind with the trivial details of putting breakfast on the table. Kerri watched him, knowing he was preparing himself for the lecture he was about to give her. She had resigned herself to it prior to getting out of bed. She knew it was coming, and she knew why.

When he sat down at the table she knew it was time. 

“I didn’t mean to speak to you as if you were a child. You know that, don’t you? I’m just so worried about you. You’re working so hard you’re going to make yourself sick again.”

She looked into his eyes and thought she saw tears. She’d known he’d been upset with her working on Sundays, but apparently he’d been more upset than she’d realized.

“The last time you worked so hard I almost lost you. I just can’t bear to think of you being that sick again--"

“Renny, you don’t blame me for losing--"

“Goodness, NO!” He took her hand, willing her to see the truth of his words in his eyes. “We’ve been through this before. What happened was no one’s fault. It’s just, just you work so hard.” He looked at the dark circles under her lovely blue eyes and sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me the bookshop is in trouble?”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know?” She knew that was a really stupid question. For as much as some people used to think Renfield was as dumb as a stump, he had turned out to be one of the most perceptive people she had ever known. As their relationship had grown there was less and less that she could keep from him.

“You left your computer on. And I do know something about balance sheets.”

“It’s not in trouble. Really. It’s not.” Renfield wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, but it ceased to be a concern when, to his complete surprise, she burst into tears. “I - I'm trying so hard,” she sobbed, “I - I'm working as m - much as I can, b - but it’s not enough. I--"

Renfield pulled her onto his lap and cradled her tightly against his chest. It always broke his heart to see her cry. “Shh,” he whispered, “you’re just tired. It can’t be as bad as all this. We’ll think of something, I just wish you’d told me.” Renfield had trouble controlling his anger, not at Kerri, but at the situation that had caused her to be so upset.

“I - I didn’t want to worry you.” Her tears began to subside. Being in Renny’s arms always had that effect on her. She pulled away and looked at him. “I thought keeping the shop open on Sundays would help. And it has, a little. The money we make covers the expenses, but I just can’t work so much.” And, as if telling him something he didn’t already know, “I’m worn out. I’m scared I can’t keep up this pace.”

Seeing her so completely forlorn caused Renfield to lose it. “I wish I had never bought this blasted place! We should just sell it --"

“Renny, NO! I love this shop too much to ever give up! You can’t take it away! There has to be another way! Please, don’t--"

The vehemence of her response shocked the anger right out of him. He hugged her tightly and held her silently for a few moments. “Okay, here’s what we are going to do, for the moment, at least. You are going to finish your breakfast and then go back to bed.” He held up his hand to ward off her objection. “Lance and I can run the shop today. I want you to get some more rest.” He could tell from the look on her face that he was about to get an argument. “Please? If our positions were reversed and I was the one who was overtired wouldn’t you want me to get some rest?”

Kerri saw the fleeting vision of herself in red serge, standing like a cigar store Indian in front of the consulate. She couldn’t help herself as she began to giggle. 

“What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking that’s it’s a lot easier for you to replace me than it would be for me to replace you.”

Renfield smiled at a specific memory that brought to mind. “Oh, I don’t know. You look awfully cute in red serge. Remember the time we played ‘mysterious stranger and the lady in red’?”

Kerri giggled again and felt a thousand times better. Telling Renny might not have taken the weight of the world off her shoulders, but now at least she had someone to help bear the burden.

After she finished breakfast Renfield tucked her back in bed. “Don’t worry about the shop, Lance will be there to keep me from giving anything away.”

Kerri smiled right into a huge yawn. “Maybe, if you’re really good, when I wake up we’ll play ‘the lady in red and mysterious bookshop proprietor’.”

Renfield beamed as he closed the door softly behind him.  
_____________

When Kerri awoke later that day she felt better than she had in a very long time. The extra sleep had helped of course but sharing her troubles with Renfield had given her the strangest, lightest feeling of well being. It was as if he would take care of everything, that at last everything would be okay. Why she hadn’t done this a long time ago was a mystery to her.

She didn’t even bother to dress before leaving the bedroom. She just grabbed his robe, the one she’d given him for Christmas, and went in search of Renfield. She knew she’d have to change if she needed to go downstairs, but the wonderful aroma of apple pie baking told her that he was not still in the shop.

For the second time that day she found him in the kitchen and watched him while he was still unaware of her presence. This time, however, she was not worried about him being angry with her. In fact, far from being angry, Renfield seemed to not have a care in the world. He was whistling something that reminded her of the song from ‘Snow White’, ‘Hi ho, hi ho, its off to work we go.’ She almost laughed out loud at the sight of her overly tall, sometimes clumsy husband wearing an apron and toque, whistling a children’s song. And then she saw the coffee cups and plates in the sink.

She gathered up her courage and announced her presence. “You certainly seem happy tonight.”

Renfield spun around to face her, wearing the most endearing, goofy grin. “Oh, you’re awake. Do you feel better? I’m making you an apple pie, I know how much you like them, and I haven’t baked anything in so long, I thought I was overdue. There’s a meatloaf just about ready to go in the oven, and I’m going to put in some potatoes to bake with it, just as soon as the pie comes out.” He paused just long enough to take a breath. “I suppose I should have put the meatloaf and potatoes in first, but they were an after thought.”

Renfield had apparently been on a cooking frenzy. “The pie smells wonderful. I think that’s what woke me up. I feel much better, but--” 

She hesitated just long enough for Renfield to become worried. “But what?” he whispered.

“I have to say something. I’ve been thinking about it since I woke up.” He saw her take a deep breath. “I’ve decided that there is nothing more important in my life than you. If - if you want to sell the bookshop, then it’s okay with me. I can be happy in whatever I do as long as we’re together. I’ve allowed it to become a strain on me, and on our relationship, and that was wrong.”

Renfield was speechless. The sacrifice she was willing to make for him, for them, was overwhelming. He was touched beyond anything he had ever experienced.

Kerri made a heroic attempt to lighten the mood. She looked in the oven, at the pie baking there, and then at the foil covered meatloaf waiting on the counter. “When did you find time to do all this?” She walked over to the sink and stared, totally confused at the cups. It wasn’t the cups that confused her, she recognized them, it was just that there were too many of them. “Renny, have we had company?”

If Renfield’s grin got any wider it would have cracked his face. He finally found his voice, “well, I was going to wait until after dinner,” he giggled, “and maybe until after the mysterious bookshop proprietor made his appearance, but,” he grabbed her hand and dragged her into the living room, “I can’t wait. I’ve had the most marvelous idea, and it doesn’t involve selling anything.”  
____________________________________________________________

Renfield’s marvelous ideas used to frighten Kerri. He’d had many since she’d known him and a few had been disastrous, but she had come to realize in the last few months that most of his ideas truly had been marvelous. So even though she still found the words ‘I’ve had an idea’ vaguely disquieting, at least they no longer scared her.

Kerri didn’t think she’d ever seen him so excited. “Renny,” she laughed, “what’s got you in such a dither?” She came up short at her own words. The last time she could remember saying them was just before he’d surprised her with the bookshop.

“First of all, I’m sorry I ever mentioned selling the shop. We’ve been too happy here to ever give it up. You work hard, yes, but you are truly in your element here, everyone knows that. And I, well I have the best of both worlds. I can do my duty to the Queen and spend Saturdays with the children I love so much. But I have been worried about you and how hard you’re working. Ever since you started keeping the shop open on Sundays you’ve changed. I think everyone saw it at Christmas dinner. No one can work seven days a week and not have it affect their health. But I didn’t know it was a matter of finances, I just thought it was your, uh, penchant for, uh, hard work.”

“You mean the way I obsess about things?”

Renfield smiled. “You said it, not me! Anyway, I figured if there was a way for you not to have to open the shop on Sunday--"

“Renny, I’ve looked at that from every possible aspect. There’s just no other way to increase revenue.”

“What if you didn’t need to increase the shop’s revenue?” he grinned.

“Renny!” she gasped. “You’re not thinking of taking a part time job?”

“No! What with the RCMP and reading to the children on Saturdays, there wouldn’t be enough hours in the day. No, I was thinking of another source of income, one we’ve both overlooked, until today. That’s why Ray, Ray Vecchio, and Constable Fraser were here.”

“They were here? Today?”

Renfield grinned again, and Kerri was sure he was going to pop. “Yep! I called them and told them we needed help. All three of them came right away.”

‘Dear Lord,’ she thought, ‘I hope he didn’t ask them to loan us money.’ “Renny, you’re making me crazy. Why were Ray and the others here?” ‘And how the heck did I sleep through all that?’ she thought.

“Well, you see, I got to thinking,” he jumped up and started pacing. “This building has increased in value since we’ve owned it. What with the apartments that they’re building around the corner where that vacant grocery store building burned down, more people are looking at this area for revitalization. I thought about refinancing the mortgage, interest rates are coming down, you know, or even taking out a small second, but decided that that wasn’t such a good idea. And then it occurred to me – we’ve got a third floor! With a small loan we could continue the renovation I started when we moved in and make it into an apartment! The rent we could collect would cover the loan payment and compensate for what the shop makes on Sunday. We could convert your office area to a small entrance hall and enclose the back stairs. The entrance to the third floor would be at the back of the building, so the renter wouldn’t need to come through the shop to get upstairs. We’ll have to figure out how much to rent it for, but Ray, Vecchio and Fraser are going to help me do the work. There’s not too much to do, the electrical and plumbing are already in, and with the three of them helping in their spare time, we should be able to get it habitable very quickly. Ray even has a friend in the loan department at the bank and he thinks she can help push the application for the loan through quickly. We could keep the shop open on Sunday until the apartment is rented, and then, once the renter moves in--"

Renfield went on and on. It was indeed a marvelous idea, but Kerri heard very little of it after he had said ‘make it into an apartment’. The wheels had begun turning furiously in her mind. It could work! For every reason she could come up with against the idea, she came up with at least three in favor of it. A renter! Of course! With the money they would collect from rent she could afford to close the shop on Sunday, and maybe even give the long suffering Lance a raise.

“Renny?” she interrupted, “shut up and kiss me!”

He stopped in mid-pace and mid-sentence. “Was I blithering?” he giggled. “Your wish is my command!” He drew her into his arms and swung her in the air, happy to be alive, and delighted to be in love. 

He stopped suddenly and stood completely still. “I think there’s someone at the door.”

As much as she loved their friends, and was grateful that they were going to help, now was not the time for company. “I don’t hear anyone. Maybe if we ignore them they’ll go away,” she whispered.

Renfield let her go and went to look out the front window. “Oh, dear.”

“What’s wrong? Who’s there?”

Renfield spun around and growled as he grabbed her again. “It’s the mysterious bookshop proprietor, looking for the lady in red!” He tickled her until she pleaded for mercy.

“Please stop!” she laughed. “I can’t breathe! If he’s going to find the lady in red you’re going to have to give me a minute to put on your tunic.”

Kerri turned to run into their bedroom, Renfield close on her heels. “Only if you let me watch you put it on!”

“I thought you wanted to watch me take it off!” she giggled as she danced just out of his reach.

“Can’t I do both? Please? If I get on my knees and beg?”

Kerri laughed seductively. “Oh, you’ll be begging alright! And maybe on your knees, too!”  
_______________________________________________________

“Ya know this isn’t such a good idea, right? There’s ghosts up here. I know it was just a dream, but the place still gives me the creeps.”

“Kowalski, if you don’t wanna help, just get the heck outta the way, but quit your bellyaching.”

“Hey, I’m not tryin’ ta get outta work, I’m just sayin’ this ain’t such a good idea! I’m helpin’!” Ray pouted. ‘I help ‘em a lot! A whole bunch more then you do, Vecchio!’ he thought.

“Are you two going to spend the afternoon arguing, or are we going to finish installing this plumbing?” Fraser yelled from somewhere under the new kitchen sink.

“We’re not arguin’, we’re discussin’ ghosts ‘n stuff.”

Neither Fraser nor Vecchio wanted to debate the existence of ghosts, both having personal experience with the matter. But both of them were getting extremely tired of listening to Kowalski complain. He’d complained constantly for the last few weeks. Oh, he’d done his share of the work renovating the attic, a lot more than his share actually, but he kept reminding everyone about it.

Kerri and Renfield would be eternally grateful to all of them for the help they had given them over the last few weeks, but Ray was about to drive them to distraction too. Late one night, just before the apartment was finished, they had a pillow talk discussion and Ray was the main topic.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so unhappy.”

“Yes, and he insists on sharing it with everyone.”

“You’re the most perceptive person I know, what do you think is wrong with him?”

“He’s lonely.”

“Renny, you’re not going to start that again, are you? Sure he’s been unlucky in love, but he’s a big boy, he knows how to get along without female companionship.”

“Sure he knows how, in his head, but maybe not in his heart.”

“Renfield, please do all of us a favor, especially Ray? Don’t try to find him someone?”

Renfield laughed. “Hey! I found someone for Constable Fraser!”

Kerri cringed. “Well, not exactly. As I recall you conspired to get them together in a romantic setting that turned into a disaster. They had to find their way to each other.”

“Well, I helped!” he sighed as Kerri hugged him.

“If you say so, dear.”

“I promise I’ll leave Ray to find his own partner.” Kerri was vastly relieved. “Unless he asks me for help.” 

‘Oh dear.’  
________________________________________________________

It took about a month to get the loan and permits and finish off the apartment. In that time Kerri had only been allowed to see the work in progress once. Renfield wanted to surprise her, Ray said she was a distraction, Vecchio thought she would just be in the way, and Fraser wanted to protect her from whatever ‘incidents’ might occur. He continually had a bad feeling about the combination of Turnbull and power tools.

Meg visited after work one evening and teased her about it. “I’d force them to let me up there if I were you. You helped draw the plans, after all. This is your building too.” She wasn’t very pleased with herself for trying to be the instigator, but she wasn’t allowed upstairs either, and it annoyed her.

“Renny wants it to be a surprise. I have to wait,” she sighed. “But I do get to run the M*P*S*H.”

“The what?”

“The Mobile Police Surgical Hospital. Come here, I’ll show you.”

Kerri led Meg into the kitchen, where she had all manner of first-aid paraphernalia laid out on the counter. Several sizes of band-aids, surgical gauze, tape, scissors, aspirin, and various creams and ointments. Meg could tell they had been well used.

“Turnbull?”

“Oh, yeah, but Benton, and the Rays too. I’ve treated mashed thumbs: Renny, splinters: both Rays, scrapes: Ray and Benton, bruises: Renny, a banged forehead: Benton and a twisted ankle: Vecchio. But they still won’t let me upstairs--"

Meg was sure she heard her friend mutter something about ‘ungrateful’, but she couldn’t be positive. “How did Ben bang his forehead? I saw the bruise, but he wouldn’t tell me how he got it.”

Kerri laughed. It would serve them right if she wrote a book. “He raised up too fast from under the sink, because Ray stepped on his foot.”

Meg laughed too. “They must have looked like the Four Stooges. No wonder they don’t want us up there!” She smiled broadly. Ammunition was such a nice thing to have.

__________

The unveiling of the new apartment was planned for a Friday night. Meg and Fraser stopped on the way from the Consulate and picked up Chinese food while Ray and Renfield took several folding chairs and a card table up the stairs in preparation for their feast.

Renfield found the very same scarf that he had covered her eyes with when he gave her the bookshop and led Kerri carefully up the stairs. At first she had objected, thinking it rather silly, but the look in his eyes changed her mind. He was so anxious to please her, so willing to work himself almost to death to keep her from doing the same thing, and their friends were so anxious to see her reaction, she couldn’t help but acquiesce.

The floor plans that Renfield and Kerri had drawn were very simple, a two bedroom apartment, similar to theirs, but reversed and on a slightly smaller scale. Whereas Renfield’s apartment spanned the entire second floor, they wanted some attic space leftover for storage. So the apartment was designed small enough to leave a narrow area that ran the length of the building where they could store all the things that families normally stored in attics. 

The back stairs led from Kerri’s former office space, up two flights to a small kitchen area that overlooked the back of the building. A half-wall with a counter top separated the kitchen from a dining area that also overlooked the back of the building. The dinning room formed the top of a long L-shaped room, the rest of the L being the living room. Behind the living room was a rather square hallway that had three doors that opened onto it. The door to the left lead to a master bedroom, the door in the middle to the bathroom, and the door on the right opened into a secondary bedroom, slightly smaller than the first one. The bedrooms were very narrow, but long enough to accommodate small closets and as much bedroom furniture as a renter might have.

The ‘workmen’ had followed the plans to a T, and the results were marvelous. The square footage was limited, but the living area was spacious and efficient. The kitchen was small and didn’t have much counter space, but they’d been able to find a small stove and refrigerator at a second hand appliance store, so the room was completely functional. They were sure the renter could use the counter top on the half-wall as extra space. Renfield imagined a sunny Sunday morning with someone he did not yet know, sitting at the counter, reading the paper and sipping orange juice. The sun shone directly in the windows on the back of the building in the springtime, and the dining area could be made to be very cheery.

They decided almost from the beginning that they would have carpet installed throughout the apartment, except for the kitchen and bath, hoping that if they had the misfortune to have a heavy footed person upstairs, that the carpet would help deaden the noise. 

Renfield had added a few extras to the apartment too. At an architectural salvage store he was able to find crown moldings that were an almost exact match to the rest of the building. At a neighborhood hardware store he found glass doorknobs and lighting fixtures that were replicas, but close enough to the real thing that he couldn’t resist purchasing them. He also found an old claw-foot bathtub and pedestal sink for the bathroom. 

Kerri knew about the stove and refrigerator, and she had chosen the carpet, but she had no idea about the other touches that Renfield had added. To say she loved what they had created up there would have been a gross understatement. She was thrilled to the point of being speechless.

“We decided not to paint anything yet, we thought the new renter might want to decide what colors they wanted. That was probably a bad idea since they’ve already laid the carpet. Do you think the bedrooms are big enough? I know we had discussed making them the exact same size, but I thought one a little larger than the other might be a good idea. The linoleum and the Formica in the kitchen match really well, I think. I hope whoever moves in wants the kitchen yellow, I think yellow is the best color for a kitchen, don’t you?”

Once again Renfield went on and on, nervously hoping that she would approve. She knew he could be rather insecure at times, especially when he’d done something to surprise her, but she just couldn’t find the words. She was so completely overwhelmed.

The other three men stood silently, awaiting her approval. Both Rays watched, with growing apprehension as Kerri silently wandered from room to room, never looking at them. Fraser was the only one of the three who wasn’t concerned. He’d seen her eyes when Turnbull had taken off the scarf. He also knew how deeply Turnbull and Kerri were connected. He’d never seen anything like it before, but he knew that they were mated on much more than a physical level. No, he wasn’t worried, all the things that Turnbull did for her touched Kerri in a place that many people would never even know existed.

“--and the toilet is new, didn’t want a used one of those,” Renfield chuckled as he continued, “the tile in here is just like the tile in our place.” Renfield finally ran out rooms to tour and admitted to himself that Kerri wasn’t responding the way he had hoped. “Do you like it?”

The simple question and the emotion behind it finally brought her around. “Renfield, all of you, this is so much more than I expected! It’s beautiful! Anyone would be proud to live here! Thank you so much for all you’ve done and thank you for the surprise. I know I complained about not being in on the day to day progress, but this is worth it.”

Now all they had to do was get their new apartment rented.  
_______________________________________________________

After the apartment had been available for rent for seven days Renfield began to worry. The sign had been in the window of the bookshop for a week, and the ad had been in the paper just as long, but yet no one had inquired about their lovely new apartment.

Kerri could see the signs of worry in his eyes as they got ready to open that Saturday morning. Saturdays were Renfield’s favorite day of the week, the day he spent what he called ‘time with his friends’. It was the day he and his friends dressed up in their favorite costumes and he read to them. Children came from everywhere to spend a couple of hours of their Saturday morning with Mister Mountie, the man every child loved.

Adults had varying opinions as to why Constable Turnbull was so beloved by all children, but of all the reasons she’d heard Kerri chose to believe Benton’s. She had accidentally overheard him tell Meg that Turnbull was so well loved by young people because they knew he was just like them, just bigger, much bigger. He understood them better than any other adult, and they all knew instinctively that they could tell him anything and he would understand.

Kerri had never understood it, but she knew Benton’s theory to be true. She’d seen it over and over again, a child would seek Renfield out just to share a problem or ask for his advice. Ray had called Renfield a Dear Abby for kids.

Kerri sensed a lack of enthusiasm today however, and she thought she knew why. Renny was worried. Worried that his marvelous idea might be backfiring. She was determined to not let that happen, though. If she had to stand in the middle of the street and stop traffic to find someone to rent their apartment she’d do it. She didn’t want her business to fail, of course, but that was only the secondary reason. She would not let Renfield fail. She could not let the man she loved so much see his idea become anything other than the wonderful idea it was.

She was about to go back into their room to speak with him when he emerged. “Renny? I thought you were reading ‘Huckleberry Finn’? Why are you dressed like - who are you dressed like?”

“Merlin the Magician, silly. Don’t you remember when we put this costume together we wondered if I would be the Sorcerer’s Apprentice or Merlin? You finally said no one would ever mistake me for Mickey Mouse.”

Kerri did indeed remember. The lavender satin robe that they had made from some cheap acetate lining fabric was hard to forget. Renfield had taken some extra scraps of fabric and covered a large cone he had shaped from poster board to make a sorcerer’s hat. He decorated the robe and hat with silver and pink glitter in paisley patterns. It was a costume only Renfield or a six-year-old child could love.

“Okay, then, back to my original question. Why Merlin, if you’re reading ‘Huckleberry Finn’?”

“Tommy Dawson didn’t believe me when I told him that Sir Lancelot, King Arthur and Merlin had all been to the bookshop. I explained about Lance and Art, but he still wouldn’t believe me, so ta da- Merlin the Magician.”

Kerri smiled at the overgrown child standing before her, his purple costume causing him to rather resemble a huckleberry. “I’d hug you, but I’d get glitter all over me!” Renfield was a constant source of amazement and amusement to her, and she loved every moment of it.

The costume seemed to transform him, and the worry lines around his eyes diminished dramatically as he finished preparing to meet his young public. Kerri smiled as she listened to him whistle as he bounded down the stairs, Dickens at his heels. Dickens was always happy, but no more so than when his master was happy too.  
__________

Kerri and Lance prepared to open the shop as Renfield set up the small orange plastic chairs in his reading room. Dickens prepared for the usual Saturday morning onslaught of people of all sizes by taking up his position under the table at the front of Renfield’s room.

By 11:30 Renfield had been reading for over an hour. Children from five to nine years old sat motionless, and almost completely silent, enthralled with the story of Huck, Tom, and Injun Joe. Renfield did not allow adults to attend his sessions, so the shop was full of browsers, moms and dads who lingered over cups of tea or hot apple cider, or in the mystery or how to sections in the bookshop. 

Even though they had more than the normal foot traffic, Lance and Kerri had realized early on that they would make very little money on Saturday mornings. She didn’t really mind, so much, because to Kerri the happy faces of the children as they ran to tell their folks about the latest adventures of their heroes, and the happy face of Mister Mountie as he emerged from his room, made it all worthwhile.  
__________________________________________________

Shortly before time for the story session to end Kerri noticed a young woman and small child picking their way carefully across the ice covered street in front of the shop. Kerri was suddenly sad for the child because she had missed the reading.

When the woman and little girl entered the shop Kerri couldn’t help but study them. The little girl looked about seven years old. She wore a white rabbit fur coat that seemed just a little too small, with a matching fur hat. She had long dark hair that fell in curls down her back and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose, under the golden rim of glasses. Her black patent shoes looked woefully inadequate for the snow and ice covered sidewalks, but she wore tights to keep her legs warm. The woman holding her hand looked to be in her mid twenties, tall and very slender. Her hair was shoulder length, dark blonde. She wore a rather well worn, loose fitting Halston pants suit, burgundy with a pale pink silk blouse underneath, but no coat. Kerri recognized the Halston suit immediately. She had one very similar to it in her closet. In the time that she worked for the RCMP Kerri had owned many such items of clothing and had worn them everyday. Nowadays she was more the slacks and pullover sweater type.

Kerri approached them and addressed the little girl. She bent down to her eye level and asked, “are you here for the story time? I’m sorry sweetheart, but you’ve just about missed it. But if you’d like you can go in for the last few minutes.”

To her surprise the child shook her head and tried to hide behind the woman. “I’m sorry, Meredith is very shy. We’re not here for the story time. I’ve just - I mean - that is, Mr. Hansen across the street said there might be an apartment for rent. I’d like to speak to the owner of the building. I’ve just taken a job there and need a place--"

“--oh, yes! My husband and I own the building. We’ve just finished renovating our attic, and we have a lovely apartment up there. It’s a walk up I’m afraid, but it’s really very nice.” 

“Do you accept children?” the woman asked nervously. Kerri thought she seemed rather shy herself. “My daughter is very well behaved and quiet, you would never know she is around. I don’t have a car and this location is so convenient.”

Kerri smiled at her and offered Meredith her hand, which Meredith refused by hiding even farther behind her mother. “Why don’t both of you come with me, I think there’s something you should see.” Kerri lead them toward the back of the building, through the crowded aisles.

She stopped in the doorway of Renfield’s reading room and nodded at the occupants. Renfield looked up at that moment and stopped reading briefly. “Hello, young lady, would you like to join us?” Renfield asked of the young child almost hidden behind the doorframe.

She shook her head and Renfield smiled. “That’s okay. You’re always welcome, if you’d like.” He smiled again and resumed reading the last of the chapter.

“Is that your husband?” the woman asked.

Kerri moved away from the doorway and the woman and Meredith followed her. “Oh, yes, that’s Renfield. And I hope that answers your question about whether or not children are welcome here.”

“Could you tell me please the rent you charge?”

They had decided to charge $700 per month for the apartment. It was a fair price, given what the new apartments around the corner were renting for, but for some reason Kerri didn’t understand, she could not bring herself to ask for that. “$600 per month.”

Kerri thought the woman was going to cry, the look of disappointment written in big, bold letters all across her face. “Thank you for your time. Come on honey, we need to be going now.”

At that moment several exuberant children, anxious to tell their parents all about the latest adventures of Huckleberry Finn, burst out from the back of the shop.

“Please wait? Maybe we can think of something. Don’t leave, I’ll be right back.”  
________________________________________________________

As much as the children loved to sit and listen to Renfield read, they also loved when the story time was over and they could run. Run all over the place. Every week it was the same, predictable, event: fifteen or so parents trying to round up and hog-tie fifteen or so rambunctious kids. Kerri made her way upstream through the exodus of adults and children, to find Renfield straightening up in the reading room.

“Renny! We need to talk - quickly!”

“Goodness, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, it’s just that there’s this woman out there who wants to rent the apartment, but she looks like she’s down on her luck. Mr. Hansen’s just hired her and you know how little he pays. She’s got the most adorable little girl, you saw her. Renny, I told her we were only going to charge $600. Oh, I know we agreed on $700, but I just couldn’t tell her that. She doesn’t have a car, and we’re right across the street. Renny, is there anything we can do?”

Renfield didn’t answer her, he just took her hand and headed through the now almost empty bookshop, toward the woman and young girl. Rather than speak to the mother, Renfield crouched down in front of the child.

“Hello again. My name’s Renfield, what’s yours?”

Meredith stared at him with wide eyes focused on his head. “M . . . Meredith.”

“My goodness what a beautiful name for a beautiful young lady.”

“M . . . my daddy said I was ugly.”

Renfield flinched almost imperceptibly. “Well, sometimes adults can be wrong.” He cocked his head and stared at her briefly, watching her stare at his head. “Wanna wear my hat?”

Meredith’s eyes widened and she quickly glanced at her mother, who smiled. Meredith turned back toward the big man in the purple costume. “Yes, please!” she whispered.

He started to take off the hat, but hesitated. “Okay,” he grinned, “but you have to remember, it’s still my hat. Deal?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Renfield placed the lavender covered cone on Meredith’s head, over the hat she already wore. It still was so large it came to rest on the top rim of her glasses. As he tucked the elastic band under her chin he corrected her. “No, no! I’m not sir, I’m Merlin and you’re - you're,” he hesitated just briefly, “you’re Guinevere! Lady Guinevere! Do you know the story of King Arthur? Well, that’s Lancelot over there, and his friend is Arthur. And now we’ve got our Guinevere! Let’s go show Lancelot your hat.”

Her mother was shocked to see Meredith take Renfield’s hand and walk toward the front counter.

“What an unusual, remarkable man!” she whispered.

“Most people seem to think so,” Kerri laughed. “Would you like a cup of tea?”  
__________

The two women were settled in the tearoom, within sight of Meredith, before they spoke again. “My name is Kerri Turnbull, my husband and I own this building. But I think I already told you that.”

“I’m Paige, Paige,” she hesitated, “McFadden.”

“It’s nice to meet you Paige. Are you new to Chicago?”

“Yes,” was all she said before Renfield and Meredith joined them.

“Guinevere and I are going to make ourselves some hot chocolate. We’ll be right back.”

Kerri could see the panic in Paige’s eyes. Not wanting to embarrass the other woman over the matter of payment, she hurriedly reassured her, “Renfield treats all his new friends to hot chocolate. It gives him an excuse to have some himself.” Kerri was well aware that Renfield hated hot chocolate, but for her a little white lie never hurt if it would make the child happy.

Renfield and Meredith returned to the table, each with a chocolate mustache. Kerri offered them both napkins as they giggled.

“You look funny Merlin!”

“And so do you Guinevere!” Renfield looked closely at Paige for just a moment before he turned back to Meredith. “Would you like to come here and live, honey?”

Paige straightened up in her chair. “I’m sorry Mr. Turnbull, but I can’t afford--"

“I’ve had an idea. I think we can work something out. You see we are renting out the apartment so that we can afford not to have the bookshop open on Sunday. Kerri is just working too much. Now I happen to know that Hansen only needed someone in the cleaners four days a week. So, it seems to me that if you were to work here on Sundays, we could rent the apartment to you for say, about $300, and the income from keeping the shop open would cover the rest of our expenses.”

“Renfield, could I speak with you for just a moment?”

Renfield and Kerri excused themselves and left a stunned mother and excited child alone in the tearoom. “Renny,” she whispered, “that’s such a wonderful idea! But we wouldn’t be able to give Lance that raise, and I just don’t know if it’s fair--"

“I had a quick word with Lance and he agreed.” From where they stood they could see Lance behind the counter. When he saw his boss looking at him he nodded his head, then shrugged his shoulder and smiled. He’d always said he wasn’t in it for the money, and he’d just proven himself right.

“Once Meredith’s mom gets her finances in order we can increase the rent a little. But for now I think it will work, if it’s okay with you.”

Kerri forgot all about the glitter on his robe and threw her arms around him. Renfield laughed. “I guess this means it’s okay with you!”  
_____________________________________________________

Paige had to pinch herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. Yesterday she wasn’t sure where their next meal was going to come from, and today she had not one, but two jobs, a place live and had met people who were completely unlike those she was used to.

She stood in the center of the living room of her new apartment, alone, for the moment. Mr. Turnbull had taken Mere to show her her new room, and Mrs. Turnbull had run downstairs to answer the phone.

The apartment wasn’t as large or as grand as she had once been used to, but if the last eight years had taught her anything it was that money couldn’t buy happiness. Happiness to her these days was just the bare necessities, a clean, safe place to live, enough food to keep from being hungry, and decent clothes for Mere. But most of all happiness was having Mere.

All of those things seemed within her grasp now. She would have to discuss how she would pay her rent with Mrs. Turnbull. She hoped they would allow her to live here for a week before she had to pay them, and then let her pay by the week. She knew it was a lot to ask, but she didn’t know what else to do. To live in a place like this, where she knew they’d be safe for what she hoped was a long while, was more than she had dared to dream of only a few days ago. She would work hard and show these people that they were right to trust her to pay her rent.

“Mommy, Mommy!” Meredith yelled as she ran into the room. “Merlin told me he’s a Mountie. For real! Some of the other children call him Mr. Mountie.” Meredith came up short upon seeing her mother. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”

Paige knelt to her daughter’s level. “It’s okay honey. Remember what I told you? It’s just the two of us now. Now what’s this about a Mountie?” Paige silently prayed that Mere was wrong.

“Merlin is Mister Mountie. Mommy, what’s a Mountie?”

Before Paige could respond, Renfield entered the room. “A Mountie is a policeman, only in Canada. Do you know where Canada is?”

It was obvious that Meredith didn’t know what a Canada was, much less where it was. “No, Sir.”

“When we go back down stairs I’ll show you on our map. Canada is a country just like the United States- well not just like. And I’m a police officer there.”

Paige was suddenly very apprehensive. “What’s a Mountie doing in the US?” she asked.

“I’m stationed at the Canadian Consulate, as Junior Liaison Officer.”

“So you don’t have any law enforcement jurisdiction here?” Paige prayed she didn’t sound too inquisitive.

Renfield assumed, incorrectly, that Paige was concerned about firearms in the house. “I do, on occasion, assist the Chicago Police Department with cases of an international nature, but I have no authority to apprehend or arrest criminals. And I assure you that there are no weapons of any kind in the building. I am not even licensed to possess a gun in the United States.”

Paige wasn’t totally relieved, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She couldn’t give up the opportunity of this wonderful apartment and she was so very tired of running. 

Once again the man Kerri called the most perceptive man in the world assumed, incorrectly, that the worried look on Paige’s face had to do with her current financial situation.

“You know I was really hoping that you could start work here tomorrow. I realize that’s a lot to ask, but Kerri and Lance are going to need to show you the ropes, as it were, and the sooner you learn the operation of the shop, the sooner Kerri can stop working so many hours.” Renfield was on a roll, and the role of philanthropist wore well on him. He studied his surroundings briefly and then went on as if he’d reached a momentous decision. “This is a pretty good sized apartment. If you don’t have enough furniture, Kerri and I have quite a lot in the basement. It just odds and ends, most from her house in Edmonton. We’ve been worried that it was just going to waste down there. If you’d like to use any of it, your welcome to it.” Renfield turned to Meredith and reached for her hand. "Would you like to go and look at our map? I’ll show you Canada and Vancouver, that’s where I was born. Well, actually, to be exact I was born in San Francisco, but that’s a whole other story . . . ”

Paige didn’t hear the rest of Renfield’s narrative, as he led Mere out of the room. She wondered what kind of furniture they had in the basement. Whatever they had to offer she could use, since all she owned was what she had been able to carry with her when she and Meredith had fled California.  
________________________________________________________

“Whaddya know about her anyway? What kinda references didja get?” Ray yelled from the bottom end of the sofa he was pushing up the third flight of stairs.

“We didn’t ask for references. She seems to be a nice young woman with a lovely child,” Renfield grunted from the other end of the sofa he was pulling up the third flight of stairs.

“Just cause yer a sucker fer kids doesn’t mean the mother’s a saint, ya - ouch! That was my hand! Yer not pullin’ as fast as I’m pushin’!”

“Slow down! We’re not in a race, here. I can’t move too fast, because I can’t see where I’m go--" Renfield’s words were smothered as Ray pushed the sofa against the closed apartment door, with Renfield in between. “Amam mmml mtm.”

“What? Why ya stoppin? I can’t push any harder, move!”

At that moment Kerri opened the apartment door and man and sofa lurched through. The fact that Renfield was able to maintain his footing and not end up as the bottom of a sofa sandwich was no small miracle.

“The door was closed! I tried to tell you!”

“I couldn’t hear ya! I told ya guys this was a bad idea. Three flights a stairs! God, my back’s never gonna be the same!”

“I told you we could wait for Constable Fraser. He said he’d be available in a few hours. Moving all this furniture is heavy work, and he was happy to help.”

“Yeah, but I’m here now. I don’t like waitin’.” After uttering that understatement, Ray surveyed the apartment with an undisguised look of disgust. “How you guys can let someone ya never met before just move in here and use up all yer good furniture is beyond me. God, ya might as well give her the keys ta the shop!”

Kerri grinned at him. “We did. The back door anyway. She has to have some way to get in, after all. And you know that we weren’t using this stuff. I’m just glad someone can use it, rather than it just going to waste.”

Ray didn’t hear a word she said, lost in thoughts of his best friends with some unknown demon one floor above them as they slept. “Dammit, Turnbull! I’ll bet that’s not even her real name! What kinda name’s that any how? Paige! Sounds like somethin’ ya’d find in one a yer books downstairs. For all you know she could be some kinda axe murder, or somethin’!” Ray let go of his end of the sofa somewhere in the vague vicinity of where Kerri had directed them, and stood defiantly, with his hand on his hip.

A soft, but emphatic voice spoke from right behind him. “I happen to like my name, thank you! My mother’s maiden name was Page.”

Ray jumped about three feet out of his skin and spun around - to gape into the most beautiful violet eyes he had ever seen. Those eyes just glared back at him.

“And I don’t own an axe but getting one might not be such a bad idea.” Paige had left what she was doing in the kitchen to meet and thank the man helping to move furniture. She suddenly didn’t care to meet the man with the strange hair and terrible attitude. All that the Turnbull’s were doing for her was so wonderful, and this rude man made it sound stupid. She smiled at Kerri and Renfield and returned to the kitchen. 

Renfield had to turn away to keep from laughing out loud, and Kerri had to put her hand over her mouth to cover the grin growing bigger by the second. Ray had been asking for it for weeks, and now had gotten exactly what he had been asking for. Kerri was just a little sad though because she had thought instantly that Ray and Paige looked very cute together.

Ray was shocked almost speechless. “Sorry,” he whispered.

Renfield still had to force himself not to laugh as he held up his hands. “Hey, don’t apologize to me!”

Ray looked woefully toward the kitchen and then turned and hurried down the stairs.

Paige resumed her position, sitting on the floor of the kitchen, lining the cupboard under the sink with some left over contact paper Kerri had given her. ‘How RUDE!’ she thought. ‘The Turnbull’s are so wonderful, but they certainly don’t have very good taste in friends!’ She’d just have to do everything she could to avoid him. She certainly didn’t want to insult her landlords by returning that jerk’s rudeness. She reminded herself to tell Mere to stay away from him too. She just hoped that he wasn’t someone who would be coming around the bookshop on Sundays. Maybe, if her fantastic luck held out just a little longer, he wouldn’t be a very good friend of the Turnbull’s and she’d never see him again.  
___________

If it weren’t physically impossible, Ray would have kicked himself in the head. Once again he’d opened his mouth and inserted his boot. ‘God damn, sonofabitch!’ he yelled to himself as he bounded down the stairs. ‘Why the hell do I always do that? How the hell do I know what kinda lady she is? Maybe she is a god damn saint. Turnbull ‘n Kerri like her, so she must have sumpthin on the ball.’ He tried not to think about those gorgeous violet eyes.

Ray made his way through the bookshop to the basement. He’d move the rest of the furniture up to Turnbull’s apartment, and then let them wait for Fraser. He’d embarrassed himself enough for one day. If he was lucky he’d avoid seeing Paige again. If he was really lucky, he’d avoid seeing the lady with the strange name ever again.  
__________________________________________________

Fraser arrived shortly after Ray left. He sensed the tension in Paige the moment Kerri introduced them but put his concern aside while he and Turnbull moved the last of the heavy furniture. Once the mattresses, armchair, and small dining table were moved, Fraser took the time to study Paige. And he wasn’t sure he liked what he saw. 

While Turnbull and Kerri helped Meredith hang her meager possessions in her closet, Fraser went in search of Paige. He found her in the kitchen, looking somewhat overwhelmed.

“It is a lot to absorb, isn’t it?”

All that had happened in the last few hours was just beginning to sink in. “These people have done so much for me, I can’t even begin to comprehend it all. There’s just no way I could every repay their thoughtfulness.” 

“I’d like to speak with you about that.” 

Paige felt an almost uncontrollable urge to run. Suddenly she felt cornered and found it hard to breathe.

“Constable Turnbull and his wife are exceptional people. It probably isn’t apparent to anyone who doesn’t know them well, but it has taken a lot of adversity to bring them to this point. They are unselfish, giving, trusting people. I will not allow them to be hurt. Whatever trouble you are in, whatever you are running from, please do not bring it to this house. They do not deserve that.”

“How do you know --"

“There are many signs that are obvious, if you know where to look. Your hair, for instance. I’d say about six weeks since the color was last touched up? And your nails, manicured not all that long ago. Meredith’s shoes, while close to new, are completely inadequate for this climate. Her coat, while stylish and obviously expensive, is more for show than functionality. Rather small, perhaps from last year?”

Paige hung her head and fought back tears. “What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. I do not believe you have done anything illegal, but you are in trouble. I can tell you are a good mother --"

“How --"

“It’s obvious that wherever you were living you left in a hurry. But as rushed as you were, you took the time to pack special things for your daughter. You apparently took only what you could carry, and most were things to comfort and protect your child. Very little of what you have with you is yours. But, whatever your trouble is, please do not allow my friends to become involved.” He turned to walk away but turned back briefly. “If you or your daughter need my help all you need to do is ask. I am at your disposal.” Fraser smiled slightly at Paige and was about to turn to leave the kitchen when they both heard a blood curdling scream.

“MERE!” Paige yelled as she bolted toward the back of the apartment.

Fraser and Paige found them in the bedroom, Meredith sobbing in Turnbull’s arms, trembling uncontrollably. 

“Mere!” Paige grabbed her daughter from Renfield and cradled her in her arms as she sat on the bare mattress on the floor. Meredith was hysterical and Paige could not get her to calm down. Paige cast her eyes frantically from Renfield to Kerri desperately seeking an answer as to what had happened.

Kerri spoke first, even though she wasn’t sure what to say. “It was Diefenbaker and Dickens, the dogs. They came up behind her to say hello and as soon as she saw them she started screaming.” 

Paige rocked her daughter and began to cry with her. “I’m sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t know there were dogs in the house. Mere is afraid of dogs.” 

Seeing the child so terribly upset broke the hearts of all the adults in the room. Kerri ran to get her some water as Renfield tried desperately to understand what had happened.

“We can keep Dickens away from here,” he promised. “He doesn’t need to come up to your apartment. He was just trying to be friendly. I’ll be sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m so sorry, he’s a very gentle dog, he’d never hurt her.” Nothing twisted his heart and broke in two like the suffering of a child.

Paige continued to rock Meredith, who had begun to calm down. “I know, I know. Thank you. Would you all mind if we were alone now? I think I’ll put her to bed, it’s been a very long day.”

Renfield and Kerri tried desperately to coax Dickens out from behind the sofa as Fraser called Dief from where he had secluded himself in the bathroom. Dief whined at his friend. “Yes, I know you didn’t mean to scare her. And I agree, there’s something more to this than the child just being afraid of dogs. Yes, I know you’re not a dog, but she doesn’t know that, and I didn’t think just then was the appropriate time to tell her mother that you are a wolf.” 

Fraser sighed as he and his companion descended the stairs. In the excitement he was apparently the only one who had noticed the large wet stain on the front of Turnbull’s shirt. The child had been so scared that she had wet herself. No, there was more here than just a young girl being afraid of dogs. She was terrified.  
___________

Paige cradled Meredith as she slept, trying her best to comfort her. Meredith slept fitfully, whimpering occasionally. Paige was at once profoundly grateful for her new beginning but scared to death that something would happen to force them back to the life she had left behind them. She had decided just a short time ago that she would not allow anything or anyone to put Meredith through that again, and she had not lost her resolve.

She had to prove to them, to all of them, that she was capable of taking care of herself and her child. And the Turnbull’s had given her the means to accomplish the first step toward her goal.  
________________________________________________________

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. The sun shone brightly through the dining room window of her new apartment. Paige awoke early, anxious to began the first day of her new life. She carried Meredith to the living room and left her sleeping on the sofa as she ventured into the kitchen to see if there was anything in the cupboard for breakfast. Mrs. Turnbull had brought up some odds and ends of staples for the kitchen while Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Fraser had moved up the furniture. Mrs. Turnbull said the food was a house-warming present. As if she needed another gift.

Paige looked through the cupboards and found a box of instant oatmeal and some instant coffee. There wasn't any milk for the oatmeal, but Meredith had eaten worse in the last few weeks.

Mrs. Turnbull had also brought up a saucepan, skillet, and some paper plates and bowls. The generosity of the Turnbulls threatened to overwhelm her as she stood and stared out the kitchen window.

She had been standing, lost in thought, for several minutes when she heard Meredith begin to stir.

“Mommy? Mommy! Mom--"

Paige was there in an instant, scooping Meredith into her arms. “I’m right here sweetie.”

“I dreamed you went away. Please, Mommy don’t leave me?”

“I’d never leave you, Mere. We’re a team remember? You and me against the world, we take care of each other.”

Meredith relaxed in her mother’s arms, deep in thought. Suddenly her whole body tensed and Paige could tell she was scared. “Honey, what’s wrong?”

“There’s dogs here Mommy! I saw them! Don’t let them get me or my friends, please?” she pleaded.

Paige hugged her tightly and tried to reassure her as best she could. “We need to talk about that, okay? The two dogs you saw yesterday are Mr. Turnbull and Mr. Fraser’s pets. They’re not mean, honey. Most dogs are not mean. Mr. Turnbull told me that Dickens is a very nice dog, and he just wanted to say hello. Maybe sometime we could go down and meet him?”

“NO!”

“Aw, honey, I’d never force you if you don’t want to. But think about it, okay? In the meantime, Mr. Turnbull said that he wouldn’t let Dickens come up here. So you won’t have to be scared again.”

“What about the other one? He can’t come up here either, okay?”

“Okay,” Paige agreed as she hugged her precious daughter. “Now, are you hungry? We have oatmeal.”

Meredith smiled for the first time this morning. “Yeah! I’m hungry. Do we got toast?”

“That’s do we have toast, and no we don’t. We’ll get a few groceries after I get off work tonight. I’ve got a little money left, and I’ll buy you something special, I promise.”

Paige was grateful that the promise of a treat took Meredith’s mind off the terror of having a dog living in the same building. A knock on the door interrupted them.  
__________

“Good morning, Mrs. Turnbull.”

Kerri smiled as she looked over Paige’s shoulder to see if she could see Meredith. “I thought you might be able to use this.” She held up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. “You can pay me back later. And please, it’s Kerri.” Kerri lowered her voice. “Is Meredith all right? Renfield and I have been so worried, and so sorry. We just didn’t realize. Renfield is beside himself with worry. He was even afraid to come up here, thinking he might frighten her.”

“Please come in,” Paige whispered. She set the milk and bread on the counter and led Kerri into the living room. “Mere, Mrs. Turnbull is here. She brought us some bread, so you can have some toast. What do you say?”

Kerri watched as Meredith rubbed her eyes and stared meekly at her visitor. “Thank you, Mrs. Turnbull. I like toast and oatmeal.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Did you sleep well in your new home?” Kerri sat next to Meredith and placed her arm lightly around her shoulders.

“Okay I guess, I don’t remember.” Paige and Kerri both smiled at that.

“Mrs. Turnbull? Is your dog mean?”

Kerri sighed. Leave it to a child to get right to the point. “When I first moved to this bookshop Dickens was just a puppy. He was fat and clumsy and very silly. His tongue was about as big as he was, and he loved to lick everything. He tumbled down the stairs more than once, and for the first few weeks we had to carry him back up, because his legs were too short to get up by himself.”

She looked at Meredith, but could tell the little girl was not convinced. “He grew and grew and got to be a big boy. He’s still clumsy and can be silly sometimes too. And he still loves to lick you in the face. He’s a very friendly dog, and no, he’s not mean.” Kerri tightened her hold on Meredith just slightly. “If you are afraid of him then I promise he will not come up here, ever again. And if you will always let me know before you come to the bookshop I will make sure he doesn’t bother you. But if you’d like to meet him all you have to do is ask.”

Meredith did not respond, but obviously considered it for several moments before they all heard her stomach growl. 

“I think you’re hungry!” Kerri laughed. “I’ll leave you now to have your breakfast. Paige, we open the shop at noon, so if there’s anything you need to do this morning you have plenty of time.”

Paige did indeed have something to do this morning. She and Meredith took the bus to the twenty-four hour Target store, where she bought sheets, a pillow and a blanket for her bed and splurged on a Lion King bedding set for Mere. She bought a cheap set of dishes and silverware and a dishtowel. She bought a saucepan and skillet so she could return Kerri’s, and as the treat she had promised her daughter, she found a large, stuffed Winnie the Pooh, on the Christmas markdown table.  
____________________________________________________

With very little of her precious cash left, Paige made it back to her apartment just in time to put everything away before she had to start her new job. Just before she was ready to run downstairs, there was another knock at the door.

“Oh, Mr. Turnbull! I was just on my way down. I needed to get Mere settled with her books.”

“That’s why I’m here. If she’d like, I’d like to keep Meredith company today. She’s very young to be left alone.” 

Paige bristled at that. She was trying her best to be a good mother, but she couldn’t help her circumstances!

Renfield knew immediately that he had said the wrong thing. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything. It’s just that I feel so badly about what happened yesterday, I thought maybe she and I could get to know each other a little.”

“Is Mr. Mountie going to stay with me?”

“Would you like that?” Paige asked.

Meredith strained to look around from behind her mother. “I think so,” she whispered. “I’ve got lots of books, maybe we could read?”

Renfield beamed at her. “I’d like that.”

And so, while Kerri and Lance learned how quickly Paige picked up on the operation of Great Expectations, Renfield learned what a sweet young lady Meredith was. He also learned some disturbing things about the McFadden’s past.

Renfield chuckled as Meredith showed him her new Winnie the Pooh. “I used to have all his friends too. My Grandma gave them to me. I got one of them every Christmas. I had Piglet and Tigger and Eeyore and Kanga and Roo, and this year she gave me Rabbit. But we had to leave them when we left.” She sighed and her forehead wrinkled with worry. “I hope my Daddy doesn’t hurt them.”

One of the things that Renfield prided himself on, and children sensed about him, was that he never pried. But he really wanted to know what she meant. “I certainly don’t think he’d do that. He --"

“He said he would! He pulled the tail off of Eeyore once. I cried and he laughed. My Mommy yelled at him and he hit her.”

Renfield really didn’t want to hear any more. The idea of any man tormenting a child or hitting a woman was totally foreign to him. He had seen his share of monsters in his life, and had even been related to one, but he still could not imagine how someone could do such a thing. “Well, maybe you can go back and get them someday.”

Meredith looked at him with horrified eyes. “No! My Mommy promised we’d never have to go back there! She promised me!” 

Tears formed in her eyes as Renfield hurried to reassure her. “Well, if your Mommy said so, then I’m sure that’s the way it will be. Don’t worry about your animals sweetie, I’m sure they will be safe.” He lied and he hated himself, but what else was he supposed to say?

“You think so?”

“Sure I do!” Renfield smiled his best Mr. Mountie smile and tried to change the subject. He had known this little girl less than twenty-four hours and he had already fallen head over heels in love with the child with the violet eyes so much like her mother’s. He had only a vague idea of what she had been through in her short life but his heart went out to her, and to Paige. “What would you like to read?”  
___________

Lance liked Paige immediately. He had never considered himself a particularly good judge of women, but since coming to work at Great Expectations he believed he worked with one of the best. Now there were two of them. He watched Paige as she followed Kerri around the shop. She wasn’t as pretty as Kerri, but it seemed to him that Paige tried to downplay her looks. She had striking violet eyes, reminiscent of Elizabeth Taylor, but rather than accent her best feature, she wore no eye makeup at all.

That seemed strange to Lance. In his limited experience most women were anxious to accentuate whatever positive features they had. Her clothes puzzled him too. She wore the same pants suit she’d worn yesterday, causing him to wonder if it was all she owned. He thought that it looked slightly out of date, but had apparently once been very costly. He wondered if she had purchased it new or at the Goodwill. There was something classy about Paige, and for some reason he didn’t understand, he just couldn’t imagine her shopping at a second hand store.

“You know, you keep this up and you’ll work me out of a job!” he teased as Paige completed a sale to yet another customer. Paige wasn’t comfortable here yet, and wasn’t sure if he was kidding. “Hey, if you’re gonna work here you gotta lighten up! I’m kidding!” He lowered his voice so Kerri wouldn’t hear. “I’m just glad you’re here to help. Kerri’s making herself sick working so hard.”

“They are wonderful people.”

“Boy, could I tell you some stories! Let’s just say they’ve been through a lot to get to this point.”

“That’s what Mr. Fraser said,” Paige muttered.

“Mr. Fraser?” Lance frowned. “Oh! You mean Constable Fraser.”

“Constable?” ‘Not another one,’ Paige thought.

“You didn’t know?” Lance laughed. “You’ve come to live in a building filled with Canadian and American cops!”

Paige thought she felt the floor slipping out from under her. “American?”

“Oh yeah! That would be Detective Kowalski, or Lieutenant Vecchio, or several others. Just be sure you don’t do anything to break the law.” Lance was kidding, but if he had looked closely into Paige’s eyes he would have seen the same terrified look that her daughter had had the previous evening.  
____________________________________________________

“Ya gonna move, or just stare at the board all night?”

“Are you in a hurry to go somewhere? Or are you just trying to break my concentration?”

Ray and Kerri were spending Friday night just as they had spent Friday night for most of the last year, playing chess as Renfield fussed around the kitchen. On this particular Friday night however, they seemed to be arguing more than usual. Actually, it was Ray who was arguing. Kerri was just trying to maintain her concentration in the face of his constant carping.

She looked up to see him pouting and finally lost it. “What is it with you lately? You used to be fun to play chess with, now I get the feeling you’d rather be somewhere else. Do you want to play or not? We don’t have to do this, you know.”

Renfield poked his head out of the kitchen, drying his hands on a dishtowel. “Now, now children, what seems to be the problem? I can’t leave you alone for two minutes without you fighting?” Renfield teased.

“Ray won’t play nice, Renny. I’m gonna take my king and go home,” Kerri also tried to tease Ray out of his bad mood.

“God, I feel like I’ve landed in nursery school. I’m outta here!” Ray turned to bound down the stairs before Turnbull could stop him. “Ray,” he called after him, “please wait! We were just teasing!”

“God damn house! Canadians tryin’ ta be funny on the second floor, weird lady and ghosts in the attic,” he muttered as he hit the first floor in a huff.

Unfortunately, just as Ray was rounding the corner to the front door and muttering to himself, Paige came around the corner the other way. On her way to pay her first week’s rent, she was deep in thought about life in general until she heard herself referred to as a ‘weird lady’.

She had carefully avoided running in to the rude man with the strange hair all week. It had been very hard to do at times, it seemed to her that he was just about always there. She just couldn’t understand how people as nice as the Turnbull’s could have such an ill-mannered friend.

“Sir,” she growled at him as she recovered from their near collision, “you don’t know me, and I certainly don’t know you. I find it extremely insulting that you would refer to me as either an axe murdered or weird. There is no way you could know any such thing, and I would appreciate it if you would stop saying them. My daughter is very impressionable, and I will not have her hearing such negative things about me!”

Ray glared at Paige, once again embarrassed, and not just a little startled and angry. He hurried out the front door without saying a word to Paige.

“Oh, dear!”

“Renny, what is it? You let Ray go?”

“He almost mowed Paige down at the bottom of the stairs. I thought I’d let them finally introduce themselves, but it didn’t go very well.” ‘Boy, is that an understatement!’ he thought.

“Renny?” Kerri cast a sideways glance at the man of her dreams. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking?” When he didn’t respond immediately Kerri could only mirror his earlier sentiment, ‘oh, dear!’  
___________

“Well, at least this time ya don’t gotta pull yer boot outta yer mouth, ya jerk!” Even though he was blinded by anger, Ray found his way back to his car. It was very cold outside, and even though he didn’t usually mind the cold so much, he’d left his jacket in Turnbull’s apartment. His goat was as cold blooded as any other GTO built in the ‘60s so it was necessary for him to sit in the cold car for a few minutes before it warmed up. As his anger cooled along with his body he thought of his encounter with the lady in the attic, as he referred to her, when he chose to think of her at all. And that seemed to be more and more lately.

He pounded his fists against the steering wheel. He had lost it with Kerri, and that was something he could not tolerate. He had to go back in there and tell them he was sorry.

He needed to talk to Paige too. They’d gotten off on the wrong foot, and it seemed that it would always be that way. It was just that every time he saw her he seemed to be angry, but then again he seemed to be angry a lot lately. He wanted to do something about it, wanted to talk to her, wanted to apologize, even if he wasn’t sure exactly what he was sorry for.

He turned the engine off and hurried back to the shop.  
_________________________________________________________

Ray rushed into the shop just as he’d done hundreds of times in the past, but he’d never been on such a mission. Needing to seek his friends’ forgiveness was a need he didn’t like, not one little bit, but he knew that if he hesitated he’d lose his nerve. He rushed up the stairs and right in to the middle of a discussion between Turnbull and his tenant.

Shocked into silence, the other occupants of the room stared at Ray. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean ta interrupt.”

“It’s not a problem, I’m glad you came back. Did you come back for your jacket?” Renfield asked, subtly studying the Kowalski/McFadden combination as Kerri not too subtly studied her husband.

“Uh, nah, I came back ta say I’m sorry fer actin’ like such a jerk.” He turned to Kerri, “I enjoy comin’ here on Friday’s. It’s --"

Kerri felt so sorry for him she couldn’t let him go on. “Hey, we’ve all been a little snappish lately. You’re forgiven. But you do have to let me win once in awhile. I’m starting to get a complex.”

Paige listened to the exchange between the friends and watched Ray out of the corner of her eye. To say this strange man surprised her would be an understatement. Apparently there was more to him than she thought.

She jumped slightly as he turned to her. “I’m sorry fer the things I said about you, too.” He shrugged his shoulders and tried to smile.

Paige thought about it briefly and decided that if the Turnbull’s could have such a man for a friend then maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. “There was no harm done,” she whispered.

Ray grinned then and then shrugged his shoulders. “We still on fer that game?”

“Why, Stanley Raymond Kowalski, I thought you’d never ask!” Kerri teased.

No one else noticed Paige recoil. What had Lance told her? That the house was full of cops, and that one of them was named Kowalski? If she remembered correctly Lance had called him a detective. Paige couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be --"

“Paige, why don’t you stay and visit with us for awhile?” Renfield asked.

“No,” she gasped, “that is, Mere is sleeping and I need to be there in case she wakes up.” Paige was out of the room before anyone had a chance to say a thing.

“Maybe I was right ta begin with, she is weird,” Ray muttered.

“RAY!”  
___________

Ray spent the rest of the evening enjoying the company of his two best friends. Since Vecchio had been back Ray rarely saw Fraser during working hours, and except for the time they spent renovating the attic, he almost never saw him away from work. Either Fraser was with Vecchio working on solving the latest case, or with Meg doing, well, doing whatever they did after hours. Ray tried not to think about it.

When he finally headed for home he was much happier than when he had almost left earlier in the evening. He even had a bounce in his step as he hurried toward his car. He whistled as he started the engine and hummed to himself as he waited a moment for the car to begin to warm up.

From where he sat he could see a few stars in the clear, cold night sky. He figured that Fraser would know which stars were which, but he really didn’t care about their names, he just kind of liked the idea of being able to see them. As he strained to see the sky, he caught sight of a shadow floating across a third floor window. The fleeting memory of the vivid dream he’d had of ghosts in the attic flashed through his mind before he realized it was just Paige, moving around in her new home.

Ray thought about Paige as he shoved the GTO into gear and sped away. His cop instinct told him that there was more to Turnbull and Kerri’s new renter than she had told them. She didn’t look or act like a person who had been on the streets, she seemed too classy for that. He knew better than to pigeonhole someone that way, but there was just something about her that screamed money. The child was the same way. Not at all like other kids he’d met, she knew too much stuff. He’d heard her talking to Turnbull about books that no kid that age should know anything about, like ‘David Copperfield’.

‘Hell,’ he thought, ‘kids are supposed ta think David Copperfield’s a magician.’ He’d thought so, until about six months ago, when he’d seen the book on a shelf in the bookshop. “Yep,” he agreed with himself aloud. ‘The woman’s hiding something. Snazzy clothes and polished manners, and a well educated kid.’  
________________________________________________________

Over the next few days Paige worked hard at Hansen’s Cleaners and at Great Expectations. She rapidly proved to both the Hansens and the Turnbulls that she was a quick study. Mrs. Hansen actually told her husband that if things kept going this way they might just be able to take that vacation to Disney World that they had been planning for so many years.

On her day off Paige enrolled Meredith in school. Meredith was scared, just as most children are their first day at a new school, but Mere had a secret weapon. She lived in the same building as Mr. Mountie, and all the children knew it. She would immediately become everyone’s best friend.

Mr. Hansen allowed Paige to work her hours around Meredith’s school schedule, so for the first time in her life, Meredith experienced the ultimate luxury of walking to and from school with her mommy. They had always been close, but never more so than now, with no one to interfere. Paige gloried in her newfound closeness with her child.

Ray and Paige were actually able to be civil to one another. Of course it helped that they hardly ever saw each other. Ray visited Turnbull in the evenings, but Paige was either spending time with Meredith or decorating her apartment. She had little money, but learned quickly that she could do marvelous things with sheets, silk flowers, a glue gun, and a sewing machine she borrowed from Kerri.

Neither one of them knew much about how to operate the darn thing, but Kerri had taped some sewing and craft shows and in the evenings she and Paige tried to reproduce some of the things they saw, with varying degrees of success, and a lot of giggling.

While Turnbull and Ray did whatever it is that men do, watched sports on TV most likely, Kerri and Paige worked up stairs. From time to time Renfield would smile and Ray would look perplexed as they heard feminine laughter coming from the attic.

“What the heck’re they laughin’ bout?” Ray asked, completely confused.

“What does it matter? Isn’t it a wonderful sound?” Renfield smiled as he looked toward the ceiling. “Rather than ghosts there are angels.”

Ray had always thought that Turnbull could be rather sappy at times. He also had to admit, but only to himself, that he kind of liked the sound too. It touched his heart and made him feel rather warm all over.

Ray had been thinking for awhile now about visiting Paige. Putting aside his bad feelings about what she might be hiding, he thought a social call might be just the ticket. Maybe he could take them to a show or something. He’d heard Sargent Groves talking about taking her niece to see ‘The Emperor’s New Groove’. Maybe he’d offer to take them. What could it hurt to ask?  
____________

“You realize what next Wednesday is, don’t you?” Renfield asked in passing.

“You mean other than February 14th?” Kerri had to hide her smile.

Renfield was genuinely disappointed. He was just teasing, but was sure she would remember. He walked on out of the room without responding.

“Renny?” Kerri followed him into the living room, deeply regretting hurting his feelings. He could be so sensitive some times. “Renny?” She walked up behind him and put her arms around his waist. “Of course I know what day it is, silly,” she whispered into his back. “It’s Valentine’s Day, and the anniversary of the day you proposed. You don’t really think I could ever forget that, do you? That was quite a time. Maria was kidnapped and you saved her. I don’t think I’ve ever been as proud of you as I was that day.”

“I had help, of course.”

“Ah, but you saved her.”

She could feel him sigh. “I did, didn’t I? But I missed spending Valentine’s Day with you.”

“I think it was an acceptable trade off, don’t you?”

“I’d like to make it up to you this year.”

“Hmm, that sounds interesting. What exactly did you have in mind, big fella?” she giggled.

Renfield turned around in her arms and hugged her tightly. “How about a day spent any way you choose? A trip to a day spa, and day spent skating with me, a night at that terrific B&B in Evanston, anything you’d like. We can both take the day off. I’m sure Inspector Thatcher will allow me some personal time, and we can ask Hansen if Paige could work here for one day.”

Kerri looked deeply into his eyes and knew exactly what she wanted to do. “Anything?”

“Yep, anything at all.” Renfield would give her the world if he could.

“Then I want you.”

“Pardon?”

“I want one whole day of your undivided attention, twenty-four hours of nothing but you. Breakfast in bed with you, the morning, afternoon and evening in bed with you, lunch and dinner brought in, nothing but your attention all day.”

Renfield smiled until his cheeks hurt. “That’s a gift for me! What do you want?”

“You and me, right here, alone, all day. And maybe just a little whipped cream.” She was lost in thought for just a moment, “or maybe some chocolate sauce.”

Renfield didn’t know if he could wait until the 14th of February. “I think that can be arranged.” The next time he went to the market he’d have to remember to get both.  
_______________________________________________________

It was snowing as Ray prepared to leave the 27th Precinct on Valentine’s Day. He had some specific plans and was lost in thought as Ray Vecchio came toward his desk.

“Leaving early Kowalski? Gotta hot date?” Vecchio almost laughed out loud. The only guy on earth who dated less than him was Kowalski.

“I got plans, yeah. What’s it to ya?”

“Well, you don’t have to get testy. I’m just asking,” Vecchio turned away. “Geez! Lighten up! If you gotta date, great. The rest of us should be so lucky.”

“Hey!” Ray called after Vecchio’s retreating back. “I didn’t say I hada date. I just got plans.”

Vecchio waved his hand in the air as he walked away. “Whatever.”

Ray gathered up his coat and gloves and headed out the door. He had some shopping to do and knew he’d need to hurry if he was going to get what he wanted.  
__________

Renfield and Kerri spent Valentine’s day exactly as Kerri had asked. But after the exertion of the day, about the time it was getting dark, they came up for air long enough to realize they were hungry, for more than just whipped cream, chocolate sauce and each other.

Even though Kerri had asked for dinner to be brought in, Renfield didn’t feel like Chinese, or burgers, or any of the other fast food type junk that they could take out. He felt like having a thick steak with a huge baked potato and maybe some asparagus with hollandaise sauce. And, if asked, Kerri would have had to admit to feeling the same way. They’d worked up quite an appetite.

It just so happened that when Renfield had stopped at the store to get the accoutrements for their Valentine’s celebration he had also picked up the necessities for a magnificent steak dinner.

“I’m starving. Is there anything to eat other than stuff that’s loaded with sugar? I think I’ve had enough sugar for one day!”

Renfield opened the refrigerator door proudly. “I, uh, anticipated our need for nourishment, and prepared accordingly.”

Kerri gaped at the food on the refrigerator shelves and smiled. Even though she had goose bumps on her bare skin from the cold refrigerated air, she was thrilled at Renny’s forethought. She turned to him and put her arms around his waist. Her skin was cold, but he was warm, ever so warm.

“How is it possible for one man to be so perfect?”

Renfield snickered. “I’ve been called many things, but perfect has never been one of them!”

“You anticipate my every need and know what I’m thinking before I even think it.” She squeezed him tightly. “And warm me up when I’m cold. That’s about as close to perfect as one person can get.”

He felt himself begin to become aroused, again, and marveled one more time at the effect she had on him. "You want to eat, or go back to bed?”

Kerri pushed away slightly and grinned, “why can’t we have both?” She pulled him back against her and rocked her hips against his.

He reluctantly pulled away. “Food first. But I’ve got to get dressed. Grease tends to splatter in the most inappropriate places.”

Kerri giggled, “aw, that means you have to cover up those places. I really like to look at those places.”

“At this rate we’ll starve to death!”

“What a way to go!”  
___________

After their sumptuous repast, eaten in the nude, Kerri straightened up the kitchen while Renfield grabbed his jeans and a t-shirt and took the trash down stairs to the alley.

He opened the door to the outside and ran right in to a very large stuffed bear. A very large, very red, stuffed bear, wearing a very large red ribbon.

“What on earth --" He couldn’t complete the sentiment before he started to laugh. “What in heaven’s name are you doing?”

Ray blushed for the first time Turnbull could ever remember. “Uh, I found this stuff.” This stuff consisted of the red bear, with ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ embroidered on the pads of its felt feet, and a large bouquet of red roses, complete with baby’s breath.

Renfield smirked at him. “Found them? In the alley?”

“Hey, that’s what I said! Now get heck outta the way.”

Renfield grinned at the man on a mission “Far be it from me to interfere with a man bearing animal and flowers he found in an alley!” Renfield smirked again and stepped out of the way as Ray pushed his way up the stairs. ‘It’s about time!’ he thought as Ray turned the corner and was no longer in view.

“What on earth took you so long?” Renfield was so deep in thought as he came back into the apartment he barely heard her. “Renny? I asked where you were?”

“I ran into Ray in the alley.”

Kerri sighed. She loved Ray dearly, but she sure didn’t want to see him, not now, not today. “He isn’t coming up here? I wanted to spend the entire day with --"

“He wasn’t coming up here, he was going one flight farther up.”

Kerri grinned in surprise. “Really?”

“He had a very large teddy bear and a dozen really nice red roses.”

Kerri looked at the ceiling and repeated herself. “Really?”

“He said he found them in the alley.”

“Good God, I hope he doesn’t tell her that!” ‘It’s about time,’ she thought.  
______________________________________________________

Paige was just beginning to think about what to fix Meredith for dinner when someone knocked at her door. Thinking it was probably Kerri, she answered the door with a can of soup in her hand. 

When she opened the door all she could see was red: a red bear and red roses. She had no idea who was standing behind them.

“Hello?”

“Mommy, who’s that?” As soon as Meredith saw the bear she could hardly contain herself. “Is that for me?” she asked, jumping up and down.

Paige smiled at her daughter, but frowned at the bear. She was about to speak when Ray lowered the presents enough for Paige to see his face. Her disappointment was obvious even to Ray.

“I thought you two might like some company and some a this stuff for Valentine’s Day.” Ray said sheepishly.

“Mommy, can I have the bear? Plllease?” she begged.

Paige knew Meredith would be extremely disappointed, but she also knew how important it was to avoid the policeman.

“Mommy, please? I’ll be real, I mean really good, I promise!”

Meredith had been through so much in her short life that it made Paige feel guilty to deny her anything. “Of course, honey,” she sighed, she was sure she was making a big mistake. “Mr. Kowalski has been kind enough to bring you a present, how could I refuse?”

“‘N the flowers are fer you.”

“See mommy, you got a present too.” Meredith took the bear, which was bigger than her, and hugged it tightly. Ray had to smile, he couldn’t remember the last time he had done something to make a child that happy. Maybe there was something to this Turnbull way of doing things, it sure made him feel good. “Thank you, Mr. Kowalski.”

“Yer welcome, honey.”

Paige could tell how grateful Meredith was just by the fact she didn’t have to be coaxed to say thank you. 

Ray blushed as he shoved the roses at Paige. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kowalski. This really wasn’t necessary,” his crestfallen look caused her to hurry on, “but it certainly is a thoughtful gesture. Thank you.” Paige hesitated as Ray stood uncomfortably on her doorstep. She knew she should invite him in, and she desperately wanted to. She’d been lonely for male companionship, the friendly, easy kind, anyway, for a long time. She also knew how dangerous this particular person’s companionship could be.

Ray was so uncomfortable he finally turned to leave. “I gotta be goin’--”

“No! Wait!” Paige blurted out. “I mean, please come in. I was just getting ready to start dinner. It won’t be much, but you’re welcome to stay.”

“I was thinkin’, maybe we could go out to dinner. The three of us? I’ll bet it’s been a long time since Mere’s had pizza.”

Paige felt like crying. He was trying so hard to be nice to them, and it felt so good, and so wrong.

“Mommy? Can we go? Can I take my bear?”

“Hey! I can’t afford ta feed him too! Hows bout we bring him back a slice?”

Meredith giggled as Ray tweaked the bear’s big red nose.

Paige was torn. How could she possibly refuse? Not that she really wanted to. “We’d like to have pizza with you, Mr. Kowalski.”  
__________

Meredith literally pulled Ray and Paige into the restaurant. Ray didn’t think he could remember ever being as joyful in the simple things as Mere was. It warmed a place in his soul he had never felt before.

Over pizza Ray told Paige about his undercover assignment, partnering with Fraser, meeting Turnbull and finding the two best friends he’d ever had. He told her about the day Fraser and he had met Kerri, and how they’d learned that she and Turnbull had already fallen in love. Paige thought she sensed a slight wistfulness in his voice, but let it pass.

He proudly told her about the cases that he and Fraser had worked on together, and then told her about Las Vegas. Without meaning to Ray kept talking until he’d told her about not really knowing who he was after they all returned. Somehow he’d lost his identity while undercover, and felt that Vecchio was the one who deserved the name ‘Ray’, as if there couldn’t be two of them.

“You gave up your name for him?” she whispered.

“It wasn’t any big deal. He’d lost a bunch, I just thought he should be the only Ray. I just did what I thought was right.”

Paige could not help herself, she took his hand. “It was a very big deal, and a staggering sacrifice. I’m proud you’d like me to call you by the name you deserve. You will always be Ray to me.”

Ray didn’t realize until much later that he had told her everything he could think of about himself, but Paige had said nothing about herself. Not one word.

Meredith munched on her cheese pizza and listened to the adults talk. She didn’t understand what they were talking about, but she could tell they were very serious. And she knew better than to interrupt. She was just happy that her mommy was happy.  
_______________________________________________________

Meredith was dead to the world as Ray carried her up the stairs. Paige got her settled in bed, the big red bear at her feet, as Ray made himself comfortable in the living room. He’d finally admitted that he liked Paige, he just hadn’t realized how blown away he’d be by her but especially that sweet little thing sleeping in the other room.

“She woke up just long enough to ask for the bear. Where in the world did you find that huge thing? It takes up most of her bed.”

“I saw it bout a week ago at the mall. Frase was lookin’ for sumthin’ fer Meg, and I tagged along.”

Paige sat across from him and they suddenly ran out of things to say. Paige finally said the first thing that popped into her mind. “Meg is Constable Fraser’s girlfriend?”

Ray wanted to laugh. “Yeah, I guess ya could say that. And his boss.”

“Uh oh. That could get a little complicated.”

Ray thought about that for a minute. “I think it already has. He never says nuthin’, but I think they’ve got problems.”

“That’s too bad.” Paige thought about her first encounter with Constable Fraser. He was a very perceptive man, and she had carefully avoided seeing him again. “It’s hard to find that perfect person.”

“Turnbull and Kerri did,” Ray mused.

Paige smiled. “They are really lucky people.”

“They’ve been through a bunch a really rough stuff, though. They keep findin’ their way back ta each other. I guess that’s what it’s all about, makin’ it through the tough times and stickin’ tagether. I wish I coulda done that.”

“You’ve been married before, then?” The moment she said it she regretted asking.

“Yep, ta Stella. Didn’t work out. How bout you?”

That was exactly why she regretted asking him about being married. She got up and walked toward the kitchen. “Would you like some coffee?”

He knew enough to drop the subject. Either she’d never been married and didn’t want to admit it, or the guy she had been married to had been a jerk. Either way Ray figured it was none of his business. She was trying hard to make a new life, and he’d like to help, if she’d let him.

“Nah. It’s getting’ late, I outta be goin’.” He grabbed his coat and headed for the door. He knew if he stayed much longer he wouldn’t want to leave, and that would be a bit much, this early in their relationship.

“Thanks for a lovely Valentine’s Day. It was fun, Ray.”

“I’d like ta do this again, maybe Friday?”

“How about if I cook, to pay you back?”

“Ya don’t have ta --"

“Yeah, I do.”

He grinned. “Okay, Friday night. It’s a date.”

He held her hand briefly as he stared into her eyes. He almost left, almost walked out the door, but something compelled him to stay. He kissed her gently and then pulled away. 

“That was nice,” he whispered.

“Only nice? Maybe I can do better?” She returned his kiss, only more deeply. He slipped his arms around her waist and held her tightly against him as they continued their kiss. 

After a short time he reluctantly pulled away. “Oh yeah, that was a lot better than nice,” he breathed. He felt torn in two. Half of him knowing he needed to get the heck out of here and half wanting to move in, lock, stock and barrel. The saner half won out and he turned to leave. “See ya Friday.”

Paige closed the door gently behind him and leaned back against it. What on earth had she done? Dating a cop, now that was just about the stupidest thing she had done in a very long time.  
______________________________________________________

In his wildest dreams he would have never thought he would enjoy seeing a movie with about a hundred laughing children and their yuppie type parents. But here he was, grinning like an idiot, and having the time of his life. Watching Meredith sitting on the edge of her seat, with her chin greasy from what the theatre laughingly referred to as butter flavored popcorn topping, giggling and tugging on her mother’s sleeve to be sure she was looking at the screen, was the most fun Ray had had in a very long time.

He had to admit watching Paige was also a lot of fun. Once they’d gotten past their unfortunate first few encounters Ray had really started to like the ‘lady in the attic’. She was a little younger than the other women he’d dated, not that he’d dated that many, especially in the last few years, but she was funny and kind. In the back of his mind he still knew she was hiding something, but he’d chosen to overlook the fact.

As they left the theater Paige had to hold Mere’s hand to keep her from floating away on the wings of pure joy. “Mommy, wasn’t that fun? Can we get some more popcorn? We could take it home and have it all the time. I like seeing movies here! Can we come again, please Mr. Kowa --"

“Why don’t you call me Ray?” It was at that precise moment he knew that more than anything in the world he would love to hear this precious little girl call him daddy.  
__________

“Hey, Frase! Long time no talk to. Whadaya been up to?” Ray tossed yet another file on a desk already overflowing with files.

Mr. Neat and Tidy Mountie was unable to control the urge to straighten them into some sort of order. “Don’t do that! Ya know I can’t find nuthin’ when you or Turnbull start cleanin’ things!”

“Sorry.”

“So what brings ya ta see me? Thought you ‘n Vecchio were out after the perp of those liquor store jobs.”

“We have been following up several leads, yes. But I wanted to take a minute to speak with you.” Fraser cracked his neck uncomfortably, and Ray could tell he had something on his mind.

“Okay, Frase, spit it out. Whadaya gotta say?”

“Vecchio told me that you are seeing Paige McFadden.”

Ray wandered from his filing cabinet to his desk and back again several times. Never one to be still, he found that as soon as Fraser mentioned Paige he was filled with even more nervous energy than usual.

“Ray, would you mind sitting still for just a moment?”

Ray plopped himself down behind his desk and waited for Fraser to drop the bombshell he knew was coming. “Shoot.”

“I have every reason to believe, that is, I think that she might not be everything she would like you to think --"

“She’s a lot more than that.”

“You care for her then?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“I think she may be hiding something.”

“I’m just about sure a that. But whatever it is, she’ll tell me when she’d ready.”

“Be careful?”

“Frase, for the first time ‘n a really long time I’ve found sumbudy that I like, and surprise, surprise, she likes me. I don’t wanna screw that up, ya know?”

“I know exactly what you mean,” he sighed. 

“You doin’ okay?”

“Of course.” 

Ray sensed the uncharacteristic ring of untruth in Fraser’s words. “Ya sure?”

“Of course.”

“Love can be a bitch sometimes.”

“Well said,” Fraser muttered as he walked away.  
____________________________________________________________

Ray found he was spending more and more time at the bookshop these days, but less and less time on the second floor, and Renfield and Kerri couldn’t have been more delighted. To think that their good friend had finally found someone he could care about and she was also their friend gave Renfield and Kerri a great amount of pleasure.

While they were preparing dinner one evening they discussed the budding relationship between their best friend and their renter.

“Meredith came into the shop today.”

“Really? Did she see Dickens?”

“From a distance, yes. She is a brave little girl, confronting her fear that way.”

“I wish I knew what had happened to make her so terrified of dogs.”

“Now, Renny. You can’t fix every problem of every child in the world, you know.” Kerri knew him well enough to know that he’d try, if he thought he could.

“I just wish we could do something to help.”

“Renfield Turnbull! Do you realize all that you’ve done for Paige and Meredith?”

“We've done.”

“And we’ve done a lot. Paige is going to have to do the rest. They’ll be fine, especially with Ray’s help.” Kerri snickered. “Have you seen the way they look at each other? Like two teenagers. It’s heartwarming.”

“And silly,” Renfield smiled.

Now if that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black. “I think we’ve been accused of the same thing!’

Renfield grinned. “I guess you’re right. I can only hope that they can find the same kind of love that you and I have.”

“And without the same tribulations!”

“I’m so sorry for all the things that have happened --"

“Stop right there Mister.” Kerri jammed her finger in his chest and then put her arms around him and hugged tightly. “The past is past. We’ve both done things we regret, but that’s all water under the bridge.” She pushed away and smiled. “Do I sound like I’ve been reading a book on cliches?”

“You sound just like the woman I love.”  
_________

“But I don’t wanna go to bed! I wanna play dolls, with Ray!” Meredith pouted.

Before Paige could open her mouth, Ray jumped in. “Hey, we gotta deal, ‘member? Bedtime’s bedtime. Just a few rules, and we all gotta follow ‘em, okay? How bout I tuck ya in? If that’s okay with yer mom?”

“Only if I get to come in and kiss you goodnight before you go to sleep.”

Paige watched as Meredith and Ray went hand in hand into her bedroom. Meredith had never had the love of her father, and Paige could tell that she desperately needed male influence in her life. Then again, so did Paige.

“I’m afraid she fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.”

“That’s okay. I’ll go in to her later. You have quite a way with her, you know? You’re almost as good with kids as Renfield.”

A few months ago he would have considered that a put down. But now, now that he’d met that little slip of a girl who slept in the next room, he felt flattered down to the bone. He could actually see himself, sitting in front a roaring fire, his arm around Paige, with Meredith playing at their feet. Maybe even a dog warming himself on the hearth. No, no dog, not until Meredith was ready. Maybe a cat. He smiled to himself, he had to wonder what Dickens and Diefenbaker would think of a cat in the house.

Thinking of Meredith’s fear of dogs caused Ray to once again consider their past. He’d hoped by now that Paige would have confided in him, but he was no nearer to learning what she was hiding than the day they’d met. But he wasn’t going to pry, not yet. Their relationship was still too new and too tenuous to risk it.  
__________

Ray Vecchio grabbed the photo off the printer and held it as if it would burn his hands. Still not believing his own eyes, he shared the page with Francessca. 

“Please tell me this is not who I think it is?”

“Oh my God, Ray! Paige is wanted for --"

“Murder. Kowalski’s girlfriend and Turnbull’s tenant is --"

“God Ray, she’s a murderer.”

“She’s a person of interest, there’s a difference.”

Francessca apparently didn’t hear her brother, but Fraser did. Having just come through the door, Fraser only heard Ray’s last remark.

“My God! She’s a murderer!” Frannie muttered.

“Apparently only a suspect, Francessca,” Fraser said as he took the print out from Ray. “But definitely a fugitive,” he whispered.

“I was searching the computer for known associates of Lucy Edmonds, our suspect in the liquor store heists?” Ray explained as if he had to give Fraser are reason to explain that he wasn’t prying. “Flipping through the Es and her picture flashed by on the screen and I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

Fraser read the print out. “Oh, dear.” He known, they’d all known that there was something, but never, ever, did he suspect this.

“Vecchio, could I see you in my office? And bring Big Red.”

Even though Harding Welsh and Ray Vecchio had been equals, in rank at least, since Ray returned from Las Vegas, Ray still considered Welsh his boss.

“Close the door.” Welsh sat behind his desk with a heavy sigh. “I just received a phone call from the DEA. Someone from this precinct just hit on a site they are monitoring, a woman wanted for questioning in the murder of her husband. Now, I’m assuming that it was you Vecchio, so let’s have it, why are you interested in this,” he had to look at his scratch pad to remember the name, “Paige Edinger?”

“Actually Lieu, I wasn’t searching for her, and her name’s not Edinger, at least not the name we know her by. She’s going by Paige McFadden --"

“Whoa, hold it a minute. Kowalski’s new lady? The one with the cute little girl? She’s Edinger?”

“She’d be the one.”  
__________________________________________________________

“I’m sorry Sir, I don’t understand why the DEA would be interested in a murder investigation,” Fraser admitted as he frowned at the black and white computer picture he held in his hand.

“I guess we’ll soon find out, they’re on their way as we speak.”

“You know, we’re gonna have to find Kowalski,” Vecchio muttered, more to himself than to the others.

“If you find him, just call him in. Don’t tell him what’s going down.”

“Lieutenant, I hardly think Ray would do anything to jeopardize an investigation.”

“Love can be a powerful motivator, Constable. Better to not give Kowalski an option.”

In his head Fraser knew the lieutenant was correct, but in his heart he hated to distrust anything that Ray might do. “Understood.”  
__________

“Lieutenant Welsh there are two suit types here ta see--"

Francessca was unable to complete her announcement as two men pushed by her in a huff. “Which one of you is Welsh?”

Welsh stood up from behind his desk, but did not offer his hand. “I don’t appreciate anyone forcing his way into my office, gentlemen.”

“I’m Agent Hunt and this is Agent McGinley. Who from your office is investigating Paige Edinger?"

“Well, so much for the pleasantries.” Welsh sat down again. “Why is the DEA interested in a murder investigation, and don’t give me any of that ‘need to know’ crap.”

McGinley hesitated. “I’m not a liberty to say.”

“Exactly what are you at liberty to say, Agent?” Ray had very little patience for any human being who used the title agent before their name, and even less patience for them when they were evasive.

“Who are you?”

“Name’s Vecchio, Ray Vecchio, and you haven’t answered my question! What are you at liberty to say?”

“Who’s this,” Hunt asked, pointing in the general direction of Fraser.

“Constable Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. And I too am interested in what you are at liberty to say.”

“A Mountie?” McGinley hesitated, curiosity temporarily getting the better of him. “Okay, okay. Edinger is a person of interest in the murder of Roger Edinger, her husband. She disappeared along with their daughter the same night he was murdered. We’ve tracked her as far as Chicago, but we’ve lost her trail."

“That much we could figure out from the computer info. What are you not telling us?”

“Do you know the whereabouts of Ms. Edinger, or are you just wasting our time?”

As much as Welsh disliked these guys, there was a legitimate warrant for Paige’s arrest. “Yeah, we have a good idea where to find her.”

“Good, give us the address and we’ll be on our way.”

“No way!” Ray yelled. “This is not a federal warrant. Any arrest goes down in our jurisdiction it’s our bust.”

“No way, Vecchio. This is our case, our collar.”

“Drop dead, Hunt.” Ray motioned to Fraser and both men turned to leave.

“Welsh?”

“I stand by my officers, gentlemen. Our jurisdiction, our collar. Enough said.”

McGinley and Hunt stepped out of the office to discuss the matter, as Welsh, Vecchio and Fraser continued to wonder why the DEA was involved. When the Agents left the office Francessca slid in. “Can’t find Kowalski. He’s not in his car, and his cell is either off or out of range. Can’t figure out from the mess he calls a desk what he might be workin’ on.”

“Keep trying. We’ve got a situation here, and Kowalski’s gotta know about it.”

Frannie nodded at her brother and left to resume her search for the guy she loved almost as much as her real brother. As she left the agents came back in. “Okay, your bust, but the suspect is ours. Agreed?”

Welsh didn’t like it, but figured it was the best they were going to be able to get. “Agreed.”

“Lieu!”

“Check the personal involvement at the door, Vecchio. You know that.”

“If you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I’d better call Turnbull.”

“Constable, are you sure?”

“Constable Turnbull can be a great help to us, so yes, Sir, I’m sure.”

“Who the heck is Turnbull?”

‘Oh my,’ Welsh thought, ‘was this going to feel good.’ “I’m so sorry, Agent Hunt, but I’m not at liberty to give you that information. Lieutenant Vecchio, would you take charge of this operation?”

“You got it.”

As they prepared to leave his office, Welsh called Ray back. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that this is a delicate matter. You up to this?”

“They’re friends, Harding. We need to get to the bottom of this as quietly as possible. Yeah, I’m up to it.” At least he prayed he was.  
________________________________________________________

For the first time in weeks Paige didn’t walk Meredith home from school. Today was the day Mere had been looking forward to for a week. Her class was going to the planetarium, and Mrs. Delgado was going to drive her and a few of her classmates home afterward. 

Paige smiled as she thought of Mere running up to her after school a week ago, waving her permission slip.

“Mommy! We’re going to the planetarium! Remember when Constable Fraser showed me the stars, and said they had names? Teacher says that there’s this big tele – tele--”

“Telescope.”

“Yeah, one of those, and we can see the moon, and the stars and all that stuff. Maybe I can even tell Constable Fraser some of the names he doesn’t know.”

Paige sincerely doubted that there was much of anything that Constable Fraser didn't know, but she certainly remembered the night Meredith and Constable Fraser looked at the stars together. It was also the day Paige had decided to stop avoiding Constable Fraser. That had proven to be a very good decision. For as much as Paige had feared Fraser, he had since become her friend.

Paige wasn’t expecting Meredith for about an hour, so she treated herself to some private time with a good book. Sitting in her apartment, alone but not lonely, she couldn’t help but thank God that He had brought her this far. The night she left California she could have never dreamed that she would be so fortunate. Completely alone without a friend in the world, a small child who needed constant reassurance, and only just a little cash, she had made her way to Chicago.

But it had to have been Divine intervention that led her here. That was the only explanation for her good fortune. Even though she’d made it as far as Chicago, she was almost at the end of her money and at the end of her rope the day she’d seen the ‘help wanted’ sign in the window of the dry cleaners.

Who would have thought, just a couple of months ago, that a help wanted sign in a dry cleaner’s window would serve to be her salvation. She smiled at the thought of Mere, laughing and happy, with friends her own age, and of herself, with friends she had made on her own. She looked down at her book and realized she had been lost in thought for several minutes, the book open to the same page she had started on.

A heavy knock on the door caused her to jump out of her reverie. “Coming,” she yelled as she hurried toward the kitchen. The force of the knocking caused her to jerk the door open wide and gasp at the people she saw there.

Standing on the landing were Ray Vecchio and two men she didn’t recognize. There were other people behind them, but she couldn’t see who they were.

“Ray! You startled me! Who --"

“Paige McFadden Edinger?”

Paige didn’t speak, only turned deathly pale. She stifled a cry with the back of her hand and staggered backwards. “Yes,” she muttered as she began to cry. It was then that she saw Ray, her Ray, standing as if frozen, on the stairs behind the strangers.

“Paige, I’m sorry,” Vecchio continued, “but I have a warrant for your arrest--”

Paige stared at her Ray but spoke to all of them, “it’s okay, I knew it was coming. He’d never let me go without a fight.”

“--arrest for suspicion of the murder of Roger MacPherson Edinger --"

“NO! Oh my God, NO!” Paige staggered and would have fallen if Ray had not burst through the crowd and caught her. “Roger’s not dead, he can’t be!” she cried.

“I’m sorry Paige, I have to do this.” Ray had just started to read her her rights when they all heard a commotion on the stairs.

“Get the Hell out of my way! I own this building and you will move!” Kerri came barreling through the startled officers to stand toe to toe with Ray Vecchio. “What on earth do you think you’re doing Ray? You know Paige, you know this can’t possibly be true! She’s no more a murderer than I am! For God’s sake!”

Ray didn’t take his eyes off Kerri. “This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do and you’re not making it any easier. Please do not interfere,” it was not a question, it was a demand. But Kerri did not back down. “Turnbull, please take your wife out of here.”

In the pandemonium that had ensued since Kerri flew into the room no one noticed that Turnbull was right behind her. Looking ashen-faced and more ominous than anyone could ever remember, Turnbull remained silent.

“Get her out of here!”

“Mommy? Where are you? Who’s all these people?” Meredith called from the bottom of the stairs.

Agent Hunt, fed up with Vecchio’s inaction, pulled out his handcuffs. Kerri jumped in front of him and he pushed her, almost causing her to lose her footing. 

“Kerri,” came the grim voice of reason from Renfield, “take Meredith downstairs.”

Kerri was about to tell Agent Hunt exactly what he could do with his handcuffs when a heavy hand squeezed her shoulder until it hurt. “Take Meredith downstairs. Now.”

“Renfield!”

“Kerri! The child does not belong here. Get her out of here, now!”

Kerri’s head cleared enough to realize that Renfield was right, but she still did not want to leave her new friend alone with these men. “You have always been welcome in my home, Ray Vecchio, but if you do this thing you will never be welcome here again.” 

Paige’s kitchen was completely silent, every one knowing that something dreadful was happening here, and that it was more than just a young woman being arrested. Kerri then turned to Ray, who had yet to say a word. “How can you allow this to happen?” She turned to Meredith and took her hand.

“Sweetie, we need to go see Lancelot.”

“I want my mommy!” Meredith cried.

“She has to go with the these,” Kerri hesitated, knowing not to use the language she was contemplating in front of a child, “people.”

“I want my mommy! Please, Mr. Mountie, I want my mommy!”

“She’ll be home real soon. Please honey, let’s go see Lancelot.”

Paige pushed away from Ray and knelt at Meredith’s feet. “You go with Miss Kerri, honey.” The harder Meredith cried, the harder Paige cried.

“I don’t wanna! I wanna go with you!” she sobbed.

Finally Hunt lost it. “Get on with it Vecchio, or I will!”

Turnbull gently gathered Meredith up in his arms and carried her, kicking and screaming, down the stairs, Kerri close behind.

“Please take good care of her!” Paige screamed after them.

“You have the right to remain silent--"  
_____________________________________________________

In the relatively short time that Paige had dated Ray she had carefully avoided his place of business, for very personal, very private reasons. She met a few of his colleagues, the other Ray, of course, Francessca, Lieutenant Welsh and some of the other detectives, but she had limited her contact with them. Police officers, with the exception of her Ray, made her very uneasy.

But here she was, smack in the middle of the 27th Precinct, with all of Ray’s friends staring at her like she was the personification of evil. She wanted to scream at all of them, her Ray included, she didn’t do anything wrong! She was only protecting her child.

Hunt and McGinley led her through the squad room as if they were the grand marshals of some macabre parade, and proud to do so. When they left her alone in a cold gray room, with only a small metal table and two chairs, she couldn’t remember ever being so terrified, or so completely alone.

The last hour, or two, or four, she had absolutely no idea, were a complete blur. Once the handcuffs had ratcheted around her wrists she had lost all sense of reality. She knew they’d be coming for her, knew that they would want to ask her all kinds of questions, but she couldn’t remember anything.

She thought of Ray and her heart soared. He would, could help her, he would stand by her. But no, he’d arrested her. He’d been there and he hadn’t said a word. She’d seen his face and knew that he believed she was a murderer.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she thought of Ray, believing the worst about her.  
__________

Vecchio and Fraser watched as Paige sat alone in interview 1, both knowing with the kind of certainty that only comes from experience, that they were not looking a the face of a murderer. 

“You saw the way she reacted. There’s no way in hell she even knew he was dead.”

Fraser studied the forlorn woman sitting on the other side of the glass and wondered many things. “She has been hiding something, but I’m certain that it was not murder. What did she say, ‘he would never let her go without a fight’? I think she was hiding from her husband, not from his murder.”

“You’re probably right. But how are we gonna prove it?”

“I think we have to first determine why the Federal authorities are involved,” he hesitated as he watched another person join Paige, “and then we have to determine if there is anything we can do to help them.” He nodded toward the two people sitting without speaking in the interrogation room.  
__________

Ray sat down at the table like he’d done hundreds of times before. He took the time to consider if it might even have been a thousand times. The thought made him extremely weary. 

Paige refused to look at him, and he was sure he knew why. She murdered her husband and now awaited her fate. From what he’d learned about her and her child she was probably just defending herself. But that really didn’t matter to him, or so he told himself. He was not going to allow himself to care, beyond seeing that justice was done. She had lied to him and she had committed a crime. He should never have trusted her but that was a mistake he would never make again. That’s what being a police officer was all about, right?

“Do you need anything? Coffee, tea?”

She shook her head.

It was a very long time before either of them spoke again. When he couldn’t stand it any longer Ray finally broke the silence. “Ya wanna tell me about it?”

“No,” she whispered.

“Ya’ve gotta talk ta someone. We’re talkin’ bout murder here!”

Paige finally looked at him. “You think I killed him? You’ve decided that I’m a murderer?”

“I think that you prob’bly had a good--"

Ray was unable to finish the sentence as the door flew open. Paige almost jumped out of her chair. “OUT, Kowalski. Your bust, our suspect, that was the deal.”

“If she wants me I’m stayin’. Paige?”

“It wouldn’t do any good. You’ve already made up your mind.” She sat up very straight in her chair. “You think I killed my husband. You’ve done your duty Detective Kowalski. You’re free to go. I’ll be fine by myself.” She sagged almost imperceptibly as she whispered, “I always have been.”

As Kowalski left the room a strong arm grabbed his and pulled him along the corridor in a rush.  
__________

“Is she asleep?”

“It took awhile, but yes, she’s sleeping. I left the door open so we can hear her if she wakes up.”

Renfield stood in the doorway of the hall that lead to their spare bedroom, as Kerri stood with her back to him, looking out the living room window.

“Are you hungry?’

“Not really.”

“Maybe I’ll make some soup. Meredith might like some when she wakes up.”

“She’ll probably sleep through the night.”

“They haven’t called then?”

“No.”

“I would have thought--"

Kerri slowly turned to face him, and he could tell she’d been crying. “Why?”

“Why?”

“Why can’t anyone we know just be happy? I thought Ray had finally found--”

“She didn’t do it, you know.”

“Of course she didn’t! But try to tell those ass holes that! Jesus Christ!”

“KERRI!”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what I’m saying.” She turned back toward the window and whispered, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”

Renfield came up behind her and place his hand gently on her shoulder. Even the slight pressure caused her to wince. Horrified, he wasn’t sure what to say. “I hurt you?”

“Just a little. It was necessary, I was completely out of control. God, the things I said! I’m so sorry.”

“She’ll be okay. Constable Fraser and Ray will see to that.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Did you see the way he looked at her? Like he’d been betrayed. Ray doesn’t like surprises, and apparently she hadn’t told him anything. I hope he can forgive her.”

“And she can learn to trust him again,” Renfield muttered.

“I don’t understand.”

“She’s been hiding her past from him and she must have to wonder who it was that discovered her secret.”  
_____________________________________________________

“Ms. Edinger I’m Agent Hunt, and this is Agent McGinley. We’re with the Drug Enforcement Agency.” The friendly tone of the one officer and the silence of the other confused Paige.

“We’d like to talk to you about the death of your husband.”

“I don’t know anything about that,” she whispered.

“Oh, I doubt that,” McGinley said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Your husband was dirty, and you know it!” he shouted.

Paige didn’t see it but Hunt shot McGinley a ‘shut up and let me handle this’ look. “Now, you and I both know that this could be relatively simple. Please, just tell us how he died.”

“I didn’t even know he was dead!” Struggling desperately to maintain what little composure she had left, she pleaded with them, “you’ve got to believe me, I didn’t kill him! I took Meredith and ran away. He was alive when I left! I was scared to death that he was going to set those damn dogs on us the entire time I was trying to sneak off the estate.” 

“Let’s just bypass that for a moment. How deeply were you involved in your husband’s operation?”

“He never included me in his business dealings. At first I used to ask, hoping that he might want to share his work with me, but by the time Mere was born I had stopped asking. He just got angry, told me I was too stupid to understand.” Some little voice inside her told that these men were not convinced.

She took a deep, shaky breath. “I didn’t kill him. You’ve got to believe me! I didn’t kill him!”

McGinley could see that his suspect was rapidly becoming hysterical. He was also beginning to see that she might just be telling the truth, not about the murder, but about her lack of involvement in Edinger’s business dealings.

“We know you didn’t.”

Paige stopped crying instantly. “What?”

“We know you didn’t kill him.”  
__________

The three men listening at the vent in the men’s room froze in shock. Vecchio and Fraser knelt on the floor while Kowalski leaned against the window, listening to the conversation in Interview 1.

“What the hell?”

“Shh! We need to hear this.”

Ray didn’t really hear Fraser and Vecchio’s exchange, he was too dumbfounded by the conversation taking place one floor below them.

“We need your help,” McGinley continued. “There were a lot of people in and out of your house. We need your help identifying some of them.”

“I can’t go back there! I promised my daughter we’d never go back to that life!”

“We’re not asking you to go back to that life, just help us bring down a lot of really bad guys. They’re threatening your mother-in-law.”

“What?”

“Did you ever meet a man named Richardson?”

“Yes, he came to the house quite often. Brian Richardson. I didn’t care for most of Roger’s business associates, but Brian really scared me. I always made sure Meredith was safely in her room whenever he was around.” She drew a very deep breath. “What do you mean they’re threatening my mother-in-law?”

“Richardson has decided that Mrs. Edinger knows something. She hasn’t said anything to us, but her maid is one of our people, and we know she’s been threatened.”

“She’s not well! She doesn’t deserve this! What could she possibly know? She doesn’t know any more about Roger’s business than I do.”  
_______________________________________________________

She only had McGinley and Hunt with her when she returned to the Turnbull’s apartment, but Paige felt as if she was surrounded and being smothered by the huge men in severe suits and even more severe faces. She didn’t seem to be able to move in any direction without one of them in her way.

“Is it necessary for both of you to be within two inches of me every second?” she finally snapped.

“Yes.”

Renfield and Kerri stood in the center of their living room ready to do battle with the two agents if it proved to be necessary to protect their friend and the small child sleeping in their guest bedroom.

“It’s alright, Renfield. I’ve agreed to go with them to California. I’m needed there, and I’ve come to get Mere.”

Although she tried valiantly to hide it, Renfield could tell Paige was frightened. He wasn’t sure she was making the best decision for herself or her daughter. “Are you sure you want to do this? They’re not forcing you to do something you don’t want to do, are they?” Renfield asked as he scowled at the two men.

“They need me to help them identify the people who really did kill my husband.” Paige looked from Renfield to Kerri and then back again. “I’m so sorry I brought all this trouble to you,” she sighed. “I never meant to upset you, either of you. I was just trying to make a new life for Mere and me. I never meant – I just wanted to – I didn’t even know he was dead.”

“It’s all right, Paige. We’re used to trouble around here. We always stand behind our friends. We knew you didn’t kill anyone.”

Renfield put his arm around his wife and smiled. She was certainly right, trouble was no stranger to this house. “We just want to help in whatever way we can.” He looked at the two ominous figures surrounding the smaller woman. “If you’re sure you want to go, I’ll go get Mere.”

“Maybe you should wait for Ray before you decide to leave?” Kerri said.

“He won’t be coming,” Paige sighed. “He believes I killed Roger.”

“Did he say that?”

“No, he didn’t get the chance to actually say the words, but he was about to. It’s okay, though,” she stood up a little straighter and her voice took on a little more resolve. “I’ve been relying on myself for a long time, I’ll get through this just fine. We’ll be just fine.”

Renfield carried the sleeping Meredith into the room. McGinley tried to take her from him, but Renfield would not let her go. “The child goes with her mother!” he whispered.

Kerri ran to the closet and got her coat. “Put this around her. Do you want me to pack a bag for her?”

“No time,” Hunt interjected.

“I wasn’t talking to you.” ‘You jerk’, Kerri thought.

“We’ll be home in a few hours, and as long as she has Pooh she’ll be okay.” Paige fought back tears. “Thank you for all you’ve done. Just saying thanks seems so inadequate though. You both have helped me more than you’ll ever know. I may not ever be back here, and I wanted you to know how much knowing you has meant to me.” She turned to her ‘escorts’, “come on guys, let’s go.”

“Do you have a message for Ray?”

Paige stopped, but did not turn back to Renfield. “No,” she whispered, “I’m just sorry he didn’t believe in me.”  
________________________________________________________

Ray stood at the top of the stairs, breathless from running the two blocks from where he’d parked his car.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“Paige isn’t here, Ray. She left with the DEA agents about an hour ago.” Renfield said.

“Damn,” he whispered. “Mere still here? When’s Paige comin back?”

“She’s not coming back. She said she needed to help catch the person or persons responsible for the death of her husband and to protect his mother.”

Ray felt like someone had pulled the floor out from under him. For the last two hours he had driven around the city, trying to come to terms with the way he felt about Paige, but apparently it had taken him about one hour too long to decide.

“She say anythin bout me?”

“Just that she was sorry,” Kerri hesitated to say the rest.

“Sorry bout what?” he demanded.

“That you believed the worst about her.”

Ray felt like Kerri had hit him in the head with a brick. But that brick was the truth. He’d automatically assumed that Paige had killed her husband. Sure, he’d figured that it was self-defense or at least in some way justified, but he had still assumed the worst. He always assumed the worst. And he’d been wrong one too many times.

“I blew it didn’t I?”

“Maybe it’s not too late.”

“Nah, I saw the way she looked at me at the station. It’s over.” He chuckled to himself, “over and out.” He turned to hurry down the stairs but Kerri grabbed his arm.

“Ray, please don’t go --"

Ray slapped Kerri’s hand away with a loud smack.

Dickens growled deep in his throat as Renfield sprang to his feet. He would have thrown his best friend down the stairs for striking his wife, if he had not seen the look of utter horror on Ray’s face.

“God, Kerri! I’m sorry! I’d never hurt you,” he cried.

“It’s okay,” she whispered with little conviction.

“No, it’s not okay! You guys’re my best friends. I shouldn’t take out my stupidity on you.” He hung his head. “It’s just that I thought,” he sighed and looked at his friends, “thought maybe I’d finally got what you guys got. Ya know everybudy looks at you and’s jealous?”

“Jealous?” Renfield asked.

“Sure. Of what ya have. The way ya love each other. None a the rest a us ever had anythin near that. I thought maybe Paige n I could get somethin like that. But I guess ya gotta be a special person ta deserve ta get that kinda love.”

Neither Renfield nor Kerri had any response. They had always considered themselves very lucky to have found each other, but they had never considered that they would be the objects of anyone’s envy.  
__________

Ray spent a few more minutes with his friends before he couldn’t stand it any longer. Claiming that he needed some time to think he left Renfield and Kerri to worry about him.

Kerri stared after him as Ray made his way down the stairs. “I’m really concerned about him. He seemed to have really connected with Paige. It’s too bad it didn’t work out for them.”

Renfield put his arms around her and held on tightly. He buried his face in her hair and sighed. “Please don’t ever leave me?” he whispered.

Kerri was about to make some kind of flippant remark, until she pushed back from him and looked deeply into his devastatingly blue, but deadly serious, eyes. She was shocked that he was sincere. 

She looked even more deeply into his eyes and felt she was looking right in to his soul. “I promise you,” she said with all the conviction she could muster, “that I will never leave you. There is no one or no thing that will ever be able to take me away from you. I love you Renfield, and nothing will ever change that,” she whispered against his cheek. “Ray and Paige might not have made it, but we always will.”

“I just know I could never live without you. I can’t imagine how Ray must be feeling right now.”  
_________________________________________________________

The taxi pulled up to the address he had been given, 13407 Trabuco Canyon Rd. He wasn’t sure what he expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. He paid the driver and stood at the edge of the road.

The house was hidden from the street behind a high stucco wall. All he could see was a small portion of a red tile roof off in the distance. In the center of the wall was a heavy, ornate wrought iron gate. Next to the gate, below the tile plaque that gave the last name of the occupants and the house number, was an intercom. He studied the entrance to the estate for several moments before the heat of the brilliant midday sun caused him to begin to perspire. 

He rang the buzzer on the intercom box and waited patiently for some one to answer. He was somewhat surprised that rather than a raspy voice over the wire, the electronic lock on the wrought iron door snapped and the door swung open. As he passed through the wall he could see an older man in a white butler’s coat approaching him.

In the few seconds it took for the man to reach him he studied the gardens on the inside of the wall. An arbor ran the length of a terra cotta path leading to a front door in the distance. The arbor was covered with a tangle of ivy and bright red climbing roses. Along the path, spaced every ten feet or so were large clay pots containing dwarf citrus trees. The orange trees were in bloom and the air was heady with the combination of the fragrant orange blossoms and roses.

In the distance he could see the inside of the wall ablaze with magenta colored bougainvillea. The lawns seemed a little parched, but given the unseasonably hot weather they’d been experiencing in Southern California, he wasn’t surprised.

“May I help you, Sir?” The butler asked.

“Yes. I’m looking for Mrs. Edinger.”

The man looked close to tears. “I’m sorry. Sir, but Mrs. Edinger passed away three weeks ago.”

Temporarily taken aback he suddenly realized to whom the butler was referring. “I’m sorry, I meant Mrs. Paige Edinger.”

“Ah, yes Sir. Miss Paige and Miss Mere are at the pool. Who may I say is calling?”

“Ben Fraser. I am a friend of theirs from Chicago.”

“Is she expecting you, Sir?”

“No, I’m sorry, I rather wanted to surprise her.”

“Miss Mere has mentioned you often, Mr. Fraser. Please follow me. I’m sure they will be very glad to see you. They haven’t had any company since Mrs. Edinger passed.”

They proceeded through the huge, heavily carved oak front doors into a dim, cool entry hall. Fraser had never seen anything like this house. A Spanish hacienda, it must have been at least 150 years old. The exterior stucco walls were more than a foot thick, which accounted for the cool, quiet interior. Stepping into the house felt like stepping back in time. The furnishings that he could see from his vantage point were also in the Old Spanish style. Heavy pieces of carved walnut or mahogany wood and bright upholstery were scattered throughout a large, open room with low open beamed ceilings. Across the room was a stucco fireplace and beyond that a large open area that lead to the backyard pool. Fraser could hear the giggles of a child splashing in the water.

The older man lead Fraser to the patio, where he waited in the shade as the butler went on to announce his presence. As Fraser stood in the shadows Meredith made her way up the steps out of the pool into a large white towel her mother held for her. Just as Paige was finishing drying her off, Mere spotted Fraser.

“Mr. Fraser!” she shouted as she ran to him. The excited child launched herself into Fraser’s arms. “You came to see us! Is Ray with you?”

Fraser hugged the damp little girl as he watched her mother’s reaction. “Not this time honey.” He saw Paige’s smile dim slightly and he knew his trip would not be wasted.

“Hello, Ben!” Paige said as she hurried toward him. “It’s so good to see you!”

“I’m sorry to come unannounced, but I really had to see you,” he smiled as he looked at the tiny face with the violet eyes almost covered with wet, dark curls, “both of you.”

“Mere, you’re getting Mr. Fraser all wet. Come here and let me get you dry.”

“Mr. Fraser, wanna come swimming with me? My mommy says I can’t stay in too long cause I might get sunburned. But I’ll bet if you came too she’d let me stay in longer. Wanna?”

“I’m sorry Mere, I won’t have time this trip. Maybe some other time.”

“Mere, why don’t you go and put on some dry clothes? And then Jose can get you some milk and cookies. Mr. Fraser and I want to visit a minute.” Paige watched as Mere hesitated. “Now, young lady. Mr. Fraser will still be here when you get done.”

“Promise?”

“I promise Meredith. I couldn’t leave without a kiss from my favorite girl.”

“Okay, if you promise.”

Neither Fraser nor Paige said anything else until Meredith had disappeared into the house. It was only then that Paige could ask about the reason for Fraser’s visit.

“Is everything all right? Everyone?”

“Well, that’s really the reason I’m here.”  
____________________________________________________________

As Paige and Fraser settled themselves in the shade of the patio, Fraser took the time to study the young woman. She looked completely different from the last time he’d seen her. She wore her hair pulled back from her face and done up in some sort of becoming fashion that he did not have a name for. She wore beige slacks with a matching silk blouse and sandals with a low heel. Some months ago he had noticed that her clothes were out of date and worn. Now, while they were not necessarily new, her clothes were obviously stylish and expensive. A few months ago she had seemed lost, alone and entirely out of her element. Now she seemed completely at home in these luxurious surroundings.

“Would you like anything? Ice tea or lemonade? I know you’re probably very warm. It’s been really hot here the last few days.” Paige felt it necessary to keep talking in order to avoid what Ben might have to say. She was very afraid of what might have brought him here.

“Lemonade would be very nice. Even though it’s not humid, it is rather warm. I was in Las Vegas several months ago and found the heat to be a bit overwhelming. I don’t seem to handle it very well.”

Paige summoned Jose and lemonade appeared moments later.

“I’m sorry to hear about your mother-in-law.”

Paige sighed and stared at the ice in her glass. “She’s had a heart condition for years and hearing the truth about her son was just too much. We miss her very much.”

“All your problems have been settled though?” he asked.

“Yes, thank God. Who ever killed Roger must have thought as long as I was the prime suspect and a fugitive they could continue their business unimpeded. When they found out I’d been apprehended by the DEA I guess they must have left the country. Whatever help the DEA thought they’d get from me just didn’t happen.”

“Roger’s mother was caught in the middle?”

“Yes. They thought she might convince the police that I was innocent, and they couldn’t have that, so they just kept at her. She always knew Roger was involved in something bad, but she had no idea what.”

“Like you?”

Paige looked up from her drink into the blue gray eyes of a friend. “I loved Roger, once, I think. He was from a wealthy, old California family and very handsome and charming. I didn’t have a chance, now that I look back on it. I was literally swept off my feet. I had no idea that our house, the boat, the cars, the jewelry, everything we owned was bought with drug money. I thought that he had family money. Now I find out he and his father virtually bankrupted the family. All Mrs. Edinger had left was this house.” She sighed, disgusted with herself. “I was really stupid.”

“You avoided the truth.”

“Something like that. I just saw what I wanted to see. But it’s all gone now. The DEA seized everything. And that’s just fine with me. I wouldn’t want all that now anyway. The only thing that’s left is this house, which was left in trust to Mere.”

They stared at each other for a few moments before Fraser finally came to the point of his visit. “You asked me before if everyone was all right.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“Everyone is fine,” he hesitated, “except for Ray.” He watched as Paige’s expression changed from concern to fear and then to horror.

“He’s not hurt?”

Fraser was quick to reassure her. “Oh, no! Well, not physically, at least. He needs you, Paige. He’s not--"

“Ben, he believes, or believed that I murdered my husband. He didn’t trust me, and he certainly doesn’t need me.”

“There’s where you’re wrong. Ray tried to find you after he had time to consider how he felt, but you were already gone.” He hesitated briefly before he continued. “Police officers see the worst that human beings can possibly be on a regular basis. Sometimes we just lose faith in the human race and expect the worst from everyone. But Ray realized what he had done, and wanted to apologize. But you were already gone.”

“Then why are you here instead of him? Did he ask you to come?”

“Goodness no! If he knew I was here he would probably, as he says, kick me in the head.” Fraser chuckled before he became serious again. “He can’t come here because he’s afraid of rejection. He’s afraid that you will send him packing, and to him that’s worse than the broken heart he’s suffering now.”

Fraser watched as Paige considered all that he was saying. “I came here,” now for the really hard part, “I came here to ask you to consider coming back to Chicago.” He studied her closely. “I know that it’s not as opulent as this house, but your apartment is still vacant. Turnbull and Kerri haven’t had the heart to rent it. You made many friends there and I know you were happy.” When he did not see any signs that she might be relenting, he added, “even if you and Ray couldn’t work things out, you’d still have a lot of friends who care about you.”

Paige stood and slowly walked toward the pool. The sunlight reflecting off the water sparkled like diamonds. In the distance she could hear a meadowlark calling. The gentle breeze carried the pungent fragrance of orange blossoms. It was so peaceful here, she was safe and secure. She was also lonely, but she wasn’t sure returning to Chicago was the answer to her loneliness. She remembered only too well the night she left. The night that some of the people she had considered her friends had turned against her.

“I don’t think I could ever be happy there again, Ben. All I can think of when I think of Chicago is the look of disgust in Ray’s eyes when he showed up in that interrogation room.”

“Paige, Ray knows he was wrong, he’s just afraid to admit it to you. Please give him another chance?”  
__________

Fraser spent the rest of the day with Paige and Meredith, enjoying the hospitality of an old California hacienda. Jose prepared tamales and enchiladas for a late afternoon supper, and Fraser left for the airport knowing the satisfaction of having eaten a truly fine Mexican meal. He did not have the satisfaction of Paige’s promise to return to Chicago, however. 

From the front gate they could see the ocean in the distance. “Your ancestors certainly picked a marvelous location for their home.”

“Roger’s family. It’s a crime that he brought shame on such a fine family name. It will be up to Mere to rebuild the pride in the Edinger name.”

Fraser took Mere in his arms and kissed her goodbye. “Please consider what we discussed?” he asked as he set Mere down and took Paige’s hand in his.

“I can only promise that I’ll think about it.”

Paige and Mere waved goodbye as the taxi disappeared down the street.  
___________________________________________________________

“Hey! You guys decent?” Ray yelled up the stairs to announce his arrival. “Don’t want any peep shows goin’ on here!”

“Ray, come on up,” Renfield yelled back.

When Ray reached the second floor landing his friends were nowhere to be seen. “Where are ya guys?”

Renfield appeared out of nowhere, half-dressed and trying to stand on one foot while pulling his boot off the other. “You’re early. I haven’t even changed out of my uniform.” 

“Thought we said 6:00.”

Deciding it was physically impossible to remove one’s boot while standing, Renfield found the nearest chair. “6:30 actually. Kerri’s gone to the store, so I’m going to take a quick shower. Make yourself comf--" Renfield started to laugh, “I almost told you to make yourself comfortable, as if you need to be told to do that!”

Still chuckling to himself Renfield headed toward the bathroom. “I’ll be just a minute. Our reservations aren’t until 7:00, so we’ve got plenty of time. I hope there’s clean towels, otherwise I’ll have to dry off with toilet paper.”

“Huh?”

“Just muttering.” Renfield closed the door and left Ray alone. In the two months since Paige left he hadn’t spent much time alone. Although they had never said so, Fraser, Turnbull and the others had expended a great amount of energy ensuring that Ray spent very little time by himself. He realized what they were doing for him and, though it made him feel even more pathetic, Ray was grateful.

‘So now whaddya do?’ he thought as he looked helplessly around the room. There were magazines, of course. But somehow, ‘House Beautiful’ or ‘Cosmopolitan’ or ‘Sledding Weekly’ just didn’t appeal to him. He knew from personal experience that there was nothing worth watching on TV, so he entertained himself by picking at the fuzz on the arm of the chair.

He’d gotten a tidy little pile of lint collected when the ceiling above him creaked. He chose to ignore the sound and studied the fabric in more depth. He’d never noticed that there were thin green threads in this fabric. Another noise from above caught his full attention.

‘Shit! There are ghosts up there.’ The sound of something being dragged was enough to bring him to his feet. He turned toward the bathroom. “Hey! Turnbull.” But he knew Turnbull wouldn’t hear him. The water was running and Ray could hear his friend belting out a song about blaming something on Nashville.

Being in that place again was the last thing he wanted to do, but curiosity was a force he could not deny. Forcing his feet to propel him in the right direction, Ray made his way, alone, to the third floor.

He hadn’t been in her apartment since the day they arrested her, and he had no desire to go in now. But the noises he continued to hear were too compelling. Once he’d opened the door he was shocked to see a light on in the living room. As surprised as he was to see the lights on, he was dumbfounded to find he was not alone.

“Hello Ray,” Paige smiled. Her smile dimmed slightly when he did not respond. “I hoped you might be happy to see me.” Her smile faded away completely when he still did not respond. 

Ray stared in disbelief at the apparition before him. He gathered his protective defenses tightly around him. He would have been better off, he was sure, if she really had been a ghost. At least then he wouldn’t have to suffer a broken heart again.

He must have stared at her for a very long time, because her hopeful look changed to one of resignation. “I’m sorry if I disturbed you. I’ll try to be a little quieter. It’s just I couldn’t pick up that box by myself. I --"

“Ya knew I was down there?”

“Yes. That is Renfield said you might be--"

“This was a set up?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Turnbull’s always got these big ideas bout bringin’ people tagether. That’s pro’bly why he asked me ta come ta dinner with em.”

Paige tried to smile even though her first meeting with Ray was not going nearly as well as she had imagined it would. “Renfield’s just trying to help.”

“I don’t need his help! I’m not some pathetic loser who needs ta be fixed up! If I want a woman, I’ll find my own.”

“Fine! I didn’t ask you to come up here, you know! You’ve satisfied yourself that I’m not a ghost, so you’re free to leave anytime.”

“Great!” Ray turned to leave, but hesitated just briefly. The knowledge that if he left now he would never return swept over him like a tidal wave. “Gr--"

“Paige! Ray! Come down here, quickly!” Renfield yelled up the stairs in a tone that actually scared Ray.

Ray was down the stairs in an instant, Paige only slightly behind him. “God, Turnbull, ya scared us ta death! What’s the--" The look on Turnbull’s face shut him right up.

“Kerri and Meredith have had an accident. They’re okay, Kerri just called from the hospital. She’s – ”

Ray grabbed Paige’s hand. “Come on! I’ll drive.”  
________________________________________________________

As they ran through the doors to the ER Ray remembered another time he’d run through these very doors. A time when Turnbull was just a dimwitted, not to be taken seriously, Mountie who worked with Fraser and who had just been hit by a car. 

Things had certainly changed. Turnbull had become his best friend, had one of the world’s most beautiful women as his wife, and the woman that Ray loved as his tenant. Ray finally admitted to himself that he loved Paige while he was speeding through the icy streets toward the hospital. Seeing her so distraught at the thought that her child might be hurt caused the defensive wall around his heart to come tumbling down. He realized that he didn’t need to protect himself from her, he needed to protect her. She needed someone to lean on, and he sure as hell liked the idea of being needed. 

He held her hand as they ran down the corridor. Rounding the corner they saw Meredith, sitting on the lap of an elderly black woman. “Mommy!” Meredith jumped down and ran to her mother. “Miss Kerri and I had a car crash! Miss Kerri’s got a bump on her head, but I didn’t even cry!” Meredith announced proudly. She frowned briefly and whispered to her mother, “Miss Kerri said a naughty word.”

Paige grabbed her daughter up in her arms hugged her tightly. “I’ll just bet she did!”

“Hi Ray! Mommy said you would come to see us.” Meredith tried to wiggle out of Paige's arms to get to Ray, but Paige would not let her go. “Mommy, why’re you crying?”

“Ya scared her, ya scared me, ya little munchkin!” Ray gathered both of them into his arms and held on for all he was worth.

After a quick look to ensure that Meredith was all right Renfield ran on to find a doctor. He instead found a nurse who directed him to an exam room. He found her, sitting on the edge of an exam table, a large bandage on her forehead.

“Oh, my God! You’re hurt! You told me you were okay!”

“I just hit my head on the steering wheel,” before she could finish she started to cry.

Renfield was beside himself with worry. “Are you in pain? What did the doctor say?”

“I’m not hurt,” she sobbed, “but you should see my car!” she wailed. “It’s awful! That idiot that pulled in front of me hurt my car! The roads are slick! And I was being so careful! He just pulled out --"

“Your wife and the little girl are very lucky Mr. Turnbull. Those old cars don’t have shoulder restraints or airbags. It’s fortunate that she was driving very slowly.”

“Doctor, is she all right? The bandage--"

“She’s fine. There’s no evidence of concussion. She’ll have a headache and be a little sore for a couple of days, but as I said they were both very lucky. She’s free to go, but I’d like her to see your family physician tomorrow, just to be on the safe side.”

Renfield helped her down from the table. He wanted to carry her, but she would have none of it. “I’m not an invalid, Renny. But there is something you can do for me. Would you and Ray kill the guy who hurt my car?” Renny smiled at her teasing, but then looked in her eyes. He certainly hoped she was teasing.

They came out of the exam room to find Paige holding Meredith on her lap and Ray kneeling on the floor in front of them. Ray was making funny faces and Meredith was laughing hysterically.

When Ray caught sight of Turnbull and Kerri he jumped up. “I . . . I . . . I was--"

“--cheering up a child? You don’t have to explain loving a child to me Ray.”

Still embarrassed Ray turned to Kerri. Eyeing the bandage on her forehead, he frowned. “You okay? Ya don’t have a concussion or nothin’, do ya?”

Kerri smiled at him and shook her head. “How’s Meredith?” She stepped past Ray to sit by Paige. “I’m so sorry. I was trying to be so careful. She was buckled up in the back seat and just as snug as I could make her.” Kerri sighed deeply, and tried desperately to keep herself from crying in front of the child, “I just couldn’t stop in time. I’m so sorry.”

“Miss Kerri, don’t cry. I’m not hurt.” Meredith patted her hand looking for all the world like a mother comforting her child.

“Not even scared?” Kerri smiled.

Meredith sat up straight and proud. “Nope!” She frowned in thought for just a moment. “Well, maybe, just a little.” She knitted her brows together and frowned. “Miss Kerri, you said a naughty word. My mommy makes me sit in my room when I say that,” she whispered.

“Mere! Kerri was--"

“It’s okay Paige, Mere’s right, I shouldn’t have said that.” Kerri looked at Meredith and asked in all seriousness, “what do you think my punishment should be? I’ll let you decide.”

Mere frowned in concentration for several moments, her small child’s mind trying desperately to come up with a fair judgement of Kerri’s infraction. Finally she patted Kerri’s hand and pronounced sentence, “I think that you have to promise to never say it again. We’ll let it go this time cause it was just . . . just . . . justified.”

Renfield had to turn away from the others standing in the hallway to hide the smile that he could not control.

Ray looked at Mere as if she were from another planet. He leaned over and whispered in Paige’s ear, “justified? What kinda word is that for a kid ta be sayin?” To the rest of the group he said, “let’s get the heck outta here. Hospitals give me the creeps.”

“Like ghosts in the attic?” Renfield whispered as he passed him.  
__________

Paige got Meredith settled in bed with her stuffed animals and called Ray. “Ray? Mere would like to say goodnight.”

She left the room to give them some privacy, and settled on the sofa. She was bone weary from her recent ordeal in California, relieved that Mere was safe, happy to be back near her friends, and scared to death at what Ray would say when he finally came out of Mere’s room. She laid her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes.

Ray stood in the doorway to Mere’s room, stunned at the crowd he saw. Everywhere he looked there were stuffed animals, and in the place of honor, at the head of her bed, was the largest of all, the huge red stuffed bear. “Ya looked kinda crowded in there,” he laughed. “How ya sleep with all this stuff?”

“They’re my friends, and I like having them close. My mommy brought the rest of them from California. See there’s Kanga and Roo and Eeyore and--"

Ray laughed. “--I get the idea! I’m glad yer back. I missed ya!”

“Me too. My mommy was sad all the time we were gone. I miss my grandma, she went to Heaven to be with God, but I’m glad we’re here.”

“I’m sorry bout yer Grandma. But I’ll bet she’s real happy with God right now.”

“Ray?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think my daddy’s in heaven too?”

One of the things that Ray had heard Turnbull say many times was that you never lie to a child, they will see through it every time. So he was at a loss. He hoped that Edinger burned in Hell for the things he had done to Paige and Mere, not to mention all the illegal stuff he was involved in, but there was no way he could say such a thing to the man’s daughter.

“Well . . . ”

“My mommy says that he’s probably up there right now explaining a whole lot of things to God. My mommy says that God loves everyone, but he hates it when they do bad things. My daddy did bad things, so maybe God will punish him and then he can go to Heaven.”

That sounded very good to Ray. “I think yer mommy right, kiddo. Yer mommy’s a really smart lady. Why don’t ya go ta sleep now, ‘n I’ll see ya tomorrow.”

“Promise?”

“Oh, yeah!” He kissed her on the forehead and stared at her for just a moment. He’d always been a little afraid of kids, but he loved this one. Completely. No hesitation, no reservations. Complete and unconditional love, just as if she were his own daughter. He’d never felt that way about anyone or anything. It was a really nice, really scary feeling.

As he turned out her light he watched her snuggle down under the covers, surrounded by her stuffed guardians. “Night, Ray,” she yawned. “See you tomorrow. I love you,” she yawned as she turned over and went to sleep.

Those three simple words almost brought him to his knees with their power. Knowing that she loved him too caused his heart to sprout wings and soar right out of his chest and fly around the room with joy.

“I love you too, sweetheart. Sweet dreams.”  
________________________________________________________

When he came back into the living room Paige was asleep. Ray sat beside her and watched her sleeping. When he could no longer control the urge, he gently tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. He then cupped her cheek and brought his lips down for a feather light kiss. Paige awoke with a start.

“Aw, jeez. I’m sorry I woke ya up.”

“You’d rather me be asleep when you kiss me?” she smiled.

“Course not. It’s just I know ya must be worn out.” 

His grin was so wide it was contagious. “What are you smiling at?”

“Mere said she loved me!”

Paige returned his smile as she shrugged her shoulders. “Like mother like daughter, I guess.”

“What?”

“Ray, don’t you know I love you?”

“Ya do?”

“Of course I do. I had a lot of things to sort out, but I’ve always loved you. Except maybe for the first few weeks I knew you. Then I think I hated you.”

“Really?” 

He sounded so dejected she had to correct herself. “No, not really. I think I was attracted to you from the first moment I laid eyes on you. Remember, when you called me an axe murdered?"

“I never meant any a those things I said, ya know?’

“I know, but they did hurt, that’s one of the reasons I kept avoiding you.”

“And the other reason was because of yer past.”

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply. “Ray, about that. I--"

“Ya don’t have ta tell me bout it.”

“I want to, if you want to hear.” She leaned her head against his shoulder and began, what Ray knew, had to be a very painful story. “Roger was abusive to Mere and me. Not necessarily physically, although he did hit me a couple of times. His abuse was much more insidious. He terrorized Mere with those damn watchdogs. He took her stuffed animals and let the dogs tear them apart, just because he knew she loved them more than him. Toward the end he rarely let me off the estate. I was really a prisoner in my own home. I had all the money in the world, but I didn’t have a job or any friends. So I really didn’t have any place to go. But I finally had enough cash stashed away, and one night I made a break for it.

“I didn’t mean to lie to you or Renfield and Kerri. And I especially didn’t mean to bring any of you any trouble. I was just so afraid that he would track me here, and Great Expectations seemed like such a good place to hide. Ben knew I was hiding something, and even offered to help me, but I was just too afraid that one of you would turn me in for stealing my child.”

“I wouldn’t a done that.”

“I know that now. I’m sorry. I never, ever thought he was involved in drugs. If I had know that I would have taken Mere out of there a long time ago.”

“I’m sorry that I believed – well, I’m just sorry.” He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against his chest. “But it’s over now. We’ve got all the time in the world ta make it up ta each other.”

“Make up? Mmm, that sounds interesting. Exactly what did you have in mind?”

He brought her chin up until their lips met. He never thought he’d get the chance to feel her softness against him again, and the waiting made her kiss just that much sweeter. He pulled her up until she was sitting on his lap and allowed his hands to explore places he’d never before explored. He caressed the skin of her back and savored its warmth. When he brought his hand around to her abdomen she pulled back slightly to allow him greater freedom of movement.

Paige ran her fingers through his hair and deepened their kiss. She moaned low in her throat as Ray’s hands worked miracles all over her body. “That feels so good,” she whispered into his mouth.

As if on cue he ran his hand up her back and fumbled with the hook on her bra. It had been quite awhile since he had done this and his fingers seemed to turn to thumbs. Embarrassed at his clumsiness, he felt he needed to explain. “It’s been awhile since--"

“Mommy, I can’t sleep. Read me a story?” Mere stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes and clutching her Pooh bear. Adorable was not a word in Ray’s vocabulary, until this very moment. It was the only word he could think of to describe the sweet little thing, in her flannel pajamas with tiny angels all over them, her dark curls tumbling in her face.

Paige sighed and rested her forehead against his shoulder. “Welcome to the wonderful world of parenthood!” she whispered.

Ray could only smile. “Maybe, someday, we can make another one just like her,” he whispered in her ear.

Paige jumped off his lap in a rush. “Hold that thought! I’ll be right back!”  
__________

Outside Paige’s apartment, in the space that still served as the attic, two shadowy figures stood in quiet contemplation.

Finally the taller of the two women spoke. “I told you this would work out. Bringing her to the cleaners was another of my brilliant ideas!”

“You and your son! I don’t know where the two of you come up with all these ‘brilliant’ ideas. But I do have to admit it worked out very well.” Mary smiled at her companion. “But I am the one who found her to begin with.”

“We make a rather good team, don’t you think? First my Renfield and your Kerri, now Paige and Ray. We are, as they say, on a roll. You think he’ll be okay with the child?” Elizabeth wondered.

“Sure! You’ve seen them together, sure he’s nervous, but he’s always nervous. The only problem they’ll have is Meredith’s dark hair and violet eyes. He’ll probably lock her in her room as soon as she turns sixteen and keep her there until she’s, oh, about thirty-two!”

“They deserve to be happy. He’s been awfully good to our children. It’s time he found some happiness. But if he refers to me as a ghost one more time I’m going to drop something on his head, and make him think Renfield did it!” 

“But we are ghosts.”

“Personally, I prefer apparition, or maybe the Dickensian term ‘shade’.” Elizabeth’s countenance changed slightly. “Does this mean we have to move on? Are we done here?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been worried about Benton and Margaret. We may be needed there. I think we’ll be watching over all of them for a very long time to come.”

“Oh, good! I rather like this universe.”

The End


End file.
